Thunderstorm generated winds such as downbursts and tornadoes cause significant damage to buildings every year throughout the world. This damage is partly due to a lack of understanding of the loading generated by them. My research focuses on trying to fill this knowledge gap. The cube in this picture will help my research by collecting unique data during extreme thunderstorm winds. It is a 4ft cube that is fully mobile, easily deployable, and able to sustain winds up to a Category 4 hurricane. The cube is instrumented with more than 100 sensors and it is deployed together with a meteorological tower. The sensors measure pressure on points at the cube’s surface, some of these points can be seen in the picture. This cube is the first portable “building” dedicated to obtaining wind-induced pressure during extreme thunderstorm winds and will help us to build safer structures against them saving many lives.
