Wind engineering research
Wind Research Laboratory (WiRL) is comprised of atmospheric scientists and engineers that conduct specialised, interdisciplinary research in the following areas:
- Catastrophe loss modelling
- Post-storm damage assessments
- Severe convective thunderstorms (e.g. downbursts and tornadoes)
- Tropical cyclones
- Wind engineering
- Wind tunnel research
- Bluff body (building) aerodynamics
Current projects
3. Using realistic disaster scenario analysis to understand natural hazard impacts and emergency management requirements
Tropical cyclones damage buildings, infrastructure and coastal communities throughout the tropical world, including Australia. One way engineers and disaster managers plan for these events is through the use of probabilistic hazard and loss models. This project, led by Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr. Richard J. Krupar III, seeks to build a tropical cyclone scenario model for the Australian region. The model will be developed such that it will generate information on potential wind, wind driven rain and inundation damage to building and infrastructure assets, as well as generating estimates of population displacement. The model will have the capability to run either for standalone hypothetical scenarios, in an event reconstruction mode, or as an ensemble damage forecast tool when coupled with probabilistic forecast tracks, such as those produced by the Bureau of Meteorology. Funding for this project has been awarded through the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and is being undertaken in collaboration with researchers from Risk Frontiers.