This data set contains the planar instantaneous velocity fields from particle image velocimetry measurements, as well as additional CTA measurements, for the experiments described in the article titled "Effects of freestream turbulence on the wakes of circular and square cylinders" (doi:https://doi.org/10.1103/scln-td8t).

The experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The setup includes an active grid to control freestream conditions. To analyze the evolution of the flow, the wake behind the cylinders were captured up to 20 cylinder diameters downstream using two laser sheets and four cameras. Three grid sequences, with an additional reference case where the grid is removed, are used to generate four inflow conditions, where the freestream turbulence intensities varied between 1.1% to 13.8%. Extreme care was taken to align the dual laser sheets, and careful preprocessing was implemented to ensure high accuracy and minimal uncertainties.

This work was funded by the the European Union (See metadata section Funding Information). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.