Abstract
THE variation of horizontal wind-speed u with height z in the air flowing over uniform ground is, in conditions of neutral equilibrium, well represented by the expression : 
where u
* is the ‘friction velocity’, defined as u
*2 = τ/ρ, τ being the horizontal shearing stress caused by the wind and ρ the air density. k is von Kármán's universal dimensionless constant. This relationship, well based theoretically and amply verified by experiment (see, for example, Sheppard1), is expected to apply at all heights within the layer of constant shearing stress.
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References
Sheppard, P. A., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 188, 208 (1947).
Monin, A. S., and Obukhov, A. M., Works of the Geophysical Institute Acad Sci., U.S.S.R., No. 24, 151 (1954).
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SWINBANK, W. Wind Profile in Thermally Stratified Flow. Nature 186, 463–464 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/186463a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/186463a0
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