Development of Topographic Wind Speedups and Hurricane Hazard Maps for Puerto Rico

Abstract

Topographic effects are known to accelerate wind speeds in hilly or mountainous terrains and consequently increase wind-induced damage. Here we describe a heuristic model developed to estimate wind-induced speedups in complex terrain. The model, originally developed for use in Hawaii, was validated using topographic wind speedup data obtained using 1∶3,100 scale boundary layer wind tunnel experiments performed at the University of Florida. Wind speedup data were produced for 16 wind directions. Speedup data were collected for six-different topographic models covering various portions of Puerto Rico and the surrounding islands. Comparisons of the heuristic model results to the measured speedups produced R2 values ranging between 50% and 65%. The resulting speedup model presented here can be easily used with topographic data for other islands. Estimates of the directional topographic speedups were developed for a 100-m grid encompassing Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The directionally dependent speedups were combined with hurricane wind speed and direction data developed using a 100,000-year simulation of wind speeds and directions to produce estimates of the design wind speeds for ASCE 7-22 including the effects of topographic speedups. These wind speed data were produced using a grid with a resolution of approximately 100 m. The data are used in both ASCE 7-22 and the Puerto Rico building code.