Measurements of the Kolmogorov constant from laboratory and geophysical wind data

Turbulent wind data measured in the atmospheric surface layer and wind tunnels are used to estimate the Kolmogorov constant C_k. The analysis discusses distinct procedures to obtain the mean energy dissipation rate and C_k. We find that for our datasets the most reliable method is the third-order structure function one. The value found for the skewness of longitudinal velocity differences is in accordance with a multifractal approach recently proposed. Despite the limitations of the data discussed in the paper, the results point to a value of C_k independent of the Reynolds number.