Experimental data of wind pressures on the Space Needle

Numerous previous studies have identified shortcomings associated with scaled testing in an idealized inflow. Gathering absolute pressure data on a real-world high rise building unlocks better understanding of peak loading.

This dataset contains over 1000 hours of pressure time series obtained on the roof of the Space Needle, an 184 m tall observation deck in Seattle, WA. The data shows how full-scale measurements can be used to generate insights into peak pressures and their dependence on approach wind characteristics. The measurements reveal a windward separation region with strong dependency of the approach wind turbulence on the pressure statistics, but positive skewness limits the peak values.