PURPOSE@ SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY Over the last decade the behaviour and characteristics of the atmospheric wind in the lower layers of the atmosphere have become increasingly important in relation to design requirements over a broad range of engineering problems. In particular@ the current trends of building design and new methods of construction have led to a need to establish@ at an early stage of design@ the magnitude of wind loads that can be expected during the lifespan of a structure. As the knowledge of force and pressure coefficient data increases@ both in terms of scope and accuracy@ it becomes increasingly important to establish the magnitude of the design wind speed as precisely as possible. To obtain this information a realistic model of the atmospheric wind is required not only for design calculations but also for simulation techniques used in wind tunnels. In addition@ a knowledge of the characteristics of the atmospheric wind near the ground has become increasingly important in the aerospace field but particularly in relation to V/STOL and conventional aircraft flying near the ground during the take-off and landing phases under automatic control.