A short-term strong wind prediction model for railway application: design and verification

Deutsche Balm AG (German Rail) developed a wind warning system to protect high-speed trains against strong crosswinds. Within this so-called Nowcasting System a short-term prediction of the maximum wind speed is made on the basis of continuous wind measurements at distinct locations of a high-speed railway line. The development of the prediction model was based on high-resolution wind data gathered from a meteorological test site which had been especially built for this purpose. The model has been independently verified by Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Weather Service) using wind data collected from various meteorological stations. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.