A visual technique for the evaluation of the pedestrian-level wind environment around buildings by using infrared thermography

Abstract A convenient technique for evaluating the pedestrian-level wind environment around buildings by using infrared thermography is developed. In the wind-tunnel experiments using this technique, a building model is placed on a heated floor and immersed in a flow. The temperature distribution on the floor surface is measured by infrared thermography. A comparison is made between the temperature distribution and the quantitative data obtained from hot-wire anemometer tests using several kinds of rectangular prisms. An empirical formula for representing the relationship is derived; in constructing the model, an “effective wind speed” defined as a combination of the mean and RMS wind speeds is introduced. By using this formula, a temperature distribution measured by infrared thermography is converted to the mean speed distribution and is displayed as an image on a personal computer.