A climatology-based wind speed map for NBR 6123

Abstract

Updating the basic wind speed map of NBR 6123 –-Wind loading on buildings – is one of the duties of the committee responsible for the revision of this code. Traditionally such maps are elaborated by means of extreme value wind speed data collected at meteorological stations, use of statistical methods for data characterization, and application of mathematical regression to elaborate the territorial maps. However, the spatial distribution of the atmospheric phenomena responsible for strong winds cannot be disregarded. This work presents a proposal for a new wind speed map for NBR 6123 combining a climatological approach and wind speed data recently compiled from hundreds of meteorological stations. A climatological wind map was first produced considering the phenomena which cause strong winds, and used as a basis to draw the isopleths of the basic wind speed map, considering the measured wind speed data. The resulting map shows basic wind speeds ranging from 30 to 48m/s.