Airflow distortion at instrument sites on the R.R.S. Challenger

Wind speed measurements obtained from research ships are prone to systematic errors caused by the distortion of the air flow around the ship’s hull and superstructure. In this report the air flow around the R.R.S. Challenger is simulated for a wind speed of 15 ms-1 blowing directly over the bows of the ship using a 3 dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. The airflow distortion at the sonic anemometer site has been quantified. The anemometer in this study was located at the top of the foremast and experienced a small flow distortion, with the wind speed decelerated by 0.86 % and displaced vertically by 0.83 m.