743
Temporal variability of upper-level winds at the Eastern Range, Western Range and Wallops Flight Facility

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Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Hall C3 (The Georgia World Congress Center )
Ryan K. Decker, NASA/MSFC, Huntsville, AL; and R. E. Barbre Jr.
Manuscript (1.7 MB)

Space launch vehicles incorporate upper-level wind profiles to determine wind effects on the vehicle and for a commit to launch decision. These assessments incorporate wind profiles measured hours prior to launch and may not represent the actual wind the vehicle will fly through. Uncertainty in the upper-level winds over the time period between the assessment and launch can be mitigated by a statistical analysis of wind change over time periods of interest using historical data from the launch range. Five sets of temporal wind pairs at various times (.75, 1.5, 2, 3 and 4-hrs) at the Eastern Range, Western Range and Wallops Flight Facility were developed for use in upper-level wind assessments. Database development procedures as well as statistical analysis of temporal wind variability at each launch range will be presented.