Errors and uncertainties in derived gust velocities extracted from flight data

Abstract

Atmospheric turbulence has always posed a challenge to the designers and flyers of aircraft. Wilson [1] suggested the presence of six components in atmospheric turbulence. This was a pioneering effort at addressing the impact of atmospheric turbulence on flight. By nature, turbulence consists of a collection of random velocity disturbances in all directions. However, deterministic structural design requires simpler turbulence models that can be easily incorporated in the analysis process. Among these are discrete gust models that are one-time events.