Anemometer

An anemometer is a device for measuring wind speed, and is a common weather

station instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos, meaning wind. The first
known description of an anemometer was given by Leon Battista Alberti around 1450[1].

Anemometers can be divided into two classes: those that measure the wind's speed, and those
that measure the wind's pressure; but as there is a close connection between the pressure and
the speed, an anemometer designed for one will give information about both.

Velocity anemometers
Cup anemometers
A simple type of anemometer is the cup anemometer, invented (1846) by Dr. John Thomas
Romney Robinson, of Armagh Observatory. It consisted of fourhemispherical cups each
mounted on one end of four horizontal arms, which in turn were mounted at equal angles to
each other on a vertical shaft. The air flow past the cups in any horizontal direction turned the
cups in a manner that was proportional to the wind speed. Therefore, counting the turns of the
cups over a set time period produced the average wind speed for a wide range of speeds. On
an anemometer with four cups it is easy to see that since the cups are arranged symmetrically
on the end of the arms, the wind always has the hollow of one cup presented to it and is blowing
on the back of the cup on the opposite end of the cross.

When Robinson first designed his anemometer, he asserted that the cups moved one-third of
the speed of the wind, unaffected by the cup size or arm length. This was apparently confirmed
by some early independent experiments, but it was incorrect. Instead, the ratio of the speed of
the wind and that of the cups, the anemometer factor, depends on the dimensions of the cups
and arms, and may have a value between two and a little over three. Every experiment involving
an anemometer had to be repeated.

The three cup anemometer developed by the Canadian John Patterson in 1926 and subsequent
cup improvements by Brevoort & Joiner of the USA in 1935 led to a cupwheel design which was
linear and had an error of less than 3% up to 60 mph (97 km/h). Patterson found that each cup
produced maximum torque when it was at 45 degrees to the wind flow. The three cup
anemometer also had a more constant torque and responded more quickly to gusts than the
four cup anemometer.

The three cup anemometer was further modified by the Australian Derek Weston in 1991 to
measure both wind direction and wind speed. Weston added a tag to one cup, which causes the
cupwheel speed to increase and decrease as the tag moves alternately with and against the
wind. Wind direction is calculated from these cyclical changes in cupwheel speed, while wind
speed is as usual determined from the average cupwheel speed.

Three cup anemometers are currently used as the industry standard for wind resource
assessment studies.

A windmill style of anemometer

Windmill anemometers
The other forms of mechanical velocity anemometer may be described as belonging to
the windmill type or propeller anemometer. In the Robinson anemometer the axis of rotation is
vertical, but with this subdivision the axis of rotation must be parallel to the direction of the wind
and therefore horizontal. Furthermore, since the wind varies in direction and the axis has to
follow its changes, a wind vane or some other contrivance to fulfil the same purpose must be
employed. An aerovane combines a propeller and a tail on the same axis to obtain accurate and
precise wind speed and direction measurements from the same instrument. In cases where the
direction of the air motion is always the same, as in the ventilating shafts of mines and buildings
for instance, wind vanes, known as air meters are employed, and give most satisfactory results.

Hot-wire anemometers

Hot-wire sensor

Hot wire anemometers use a very fine wire (on the order of several micrometres) electrically
heated up to some temperature above the ambient. Air flowing past the wire has a cooling effect
on the wire. As the electrical resistance of most metals is dependent upon the temperature of
the metal (tungsten is a popular choice for hot-wires), a relationship can be obtained between
the resistance of the wire and the flow speed.[2]

Several ways of implementing this exist, and hot-wire devices can be further classified as CCA
(Constant-Current Anemometer), CVA (Constant-Voltage Anemometer) and CTA (Constant-
Temperature Anemometer). The voltage output from these anemometers is thus the result of
some sort of circuit within the device trying to maintain the specific variable (current, voltage or
temperature) constant.

Additionally, PWM (pulse-width modulation) anemometers are also used, wherein the velocity is
inferred by the time length of a repeating pulse of current that brings the wire up to a specified
resistance and then stops until a threshold "floor" is reached, at which time the pulse is sent
again.

Hot-wire anemometers, while extremely delicate, have extremely high frequency-response and
fine spatial resolution compared to other measurement methods, and as such are almost
universally employed for the detailed study of turbulent flows, or any flow in which rapid velocity
fluctuations are of interest.

Laser Doppler anemometers

Drawing of a laser anemometer. The laser is emitted (1) through the front lens (6) of the anemometer and is
backscattered off the air molecules (7). The backscattered radiation (dots) re-enter the device and are reflected and
directed into a detector (12).

Laser Doppler anemometers use a beam of light from a laser that is divided into two beams,
with one propagated out of the anemometer. Particulates (or deliberately introduced seed
material) flowing along with air molecules near where the beam exits reflect, or backscatter, the
light back into a detector, where it is measured relative to the original laser beam. When the
particles are in great motion, they produce a Doppler shift for measuring wind speed in the laser
light, which is used to calculate the speed of the particles, and therefore the air around the
anemometer.[3]

Sonic anemometers

3D ultrasonic anemometer

Sonic anemometers, first developed in the 1970s, use ultrasonic sound waves to measure wind
velocity. They measure wind speed based on the time of flight of sonic pulses between pairs
of transducers. Measurements from pairs of transducers can be combined to yield a
measurement of velocity in 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional flow. Thespatial resolution is given by the
path length between transducers, which is typically 10 to 20 cm. Sonic anemometers can take
measurements with very fine temporal resolution, 20 Hz or better, which makes them well suited
for turbulencemeasurements. The lack of moving parts makes them appropriate for long term
use in exposed automated weather stations and weather buoys where the accuracy and
reliability of traditional cup-and-vane anemometers is adversely affected by salty air or large
amounts of dust. Their main disadvantage is the distortion of the flow itself by the structure
supporting the transducers, which requires a correction based upon wind tunnel measurements
to minimize the effect. An international standard for this process, ISO 16622 Meteorology—
Sonic anemometers/thermometers—Acceptance test methods for mean wind measurements is
in general circulation. Another disadvantage is lower accuracy due to precipitation, where rain
drops may vary the speed of sound.

Since the speed of sound varies with temperature, and is virtually stable with pressure change,
sonic anomometers are also used as thermometers.
Two-dimensional (wind speed and wind direction) sonic anemometers are used in applications
such as weather stations, ship navigation, wind turbines, aviation and weather buoys.

Ping-pong ball anemometers

A common anemometer for basic use is constructed from a ping-pong ball attached to a string.
When the wind blows horizontally, it presses on and moves the ball; because ping-pong balls
are very lightweight, they move easily in light winds. Measuring the angle between the string-
ball apparatus and the line normal to the ground gives an estimate of the wind speed.

This type of anemometer is mostly used for middle-school level instruction which most students
make themselves, but a similar device was also flown on Phoenix Mars Lander[citation needed] .

Pressure anemometers
The first designs of anemometers which measure the pressure were divided into plate and tube
classes.

Plate anemometers
These are the earliest anemometers and are simply a flat plate suspended from the top so that
the wind deflects the plate. In 1450, the Italian art architect Leon Battista Alberti invented the
first mechanical anemometer; in 1664 it was re-invented by Robert Hooke (who is often
mistakenly considered the inventor of the first anemometer). Later versions of this form
consisted of a flat plate, either square or circular, which is kept normal to the wind by a wind
vane. The pressure of the wind on its face is balanced by a spring. The compression of the
spring determines the actual force which the wind is exerting on the plate, and this is either read
off on a suitable gauge, or on a recorder. Instruments of this kind do not respond to light winds,
are inaccurate for high wind readings, and are slow at responding to variable winds. Plate
anemometers have been used to trigger high wind alarms on bridges.

Tube anemometers
Helicoid propeller anemometer incorporating a wind vane for orientation.

James Lind's anemometer of 1775 consisted simply of a glass U tube containing liquid,
a manometer, with one end bent in a horizontal direction to face the wind and the other vertical
end remains parallel to the wind flow. Though the Lind was not the first it was the most practical
and best known anemometer of this type. If the wind blows into the mouth of a tube it causes an
increase of pressure on one side of the manometer. The wind over the open end of a vertical
tube causes little change in pressure on the other side of the manometer. The resulting liquid
change in the U tube is an indication of the wind speed. Small departures from the true direction
of the wind causes large variations in the magnitude.

The highly successful metal pressure tube anemometer of William Henry Dines in 1892 utilized
the same pressure difference between the open mouth of a straight tube facing the wind and a
ring of small holes in a vertical tube which is closed at the upper end. Both are mounted at the
same height. The pressure differences on which the action depends are very small, and special
means are required to register them. The recorder consists of a float in a sealed chamber
partially filled with water. The pipe from the straight tube is connected to the top of the sealed
chamber and the pipe from the small tubes is directed into the bottom inside the float. Since the
pressure difference determines the vertical position of the float this is a measure of the wind
speed.

The great advantage of the tube anemometer lies in the fact that the exposed part can be
mounted on a high pole, and requires no oiling or attention for years; and the registering part
can be placed in any convenient position. Two connecting tubes are required. It might appear at
first sight as though one connection would serve, but the differences in pressure on which these
instruments depend are so minute, that the pressure of the air in the room where the recording
part is placed has to be considered. Thus if the instrument depends on the pressure or suction
effect alone, and this pressure or suction is measured against the air pressure in an ordinary
room, in which the doors and windows are carefully closed and a newspaper is then burnt up
the chimney, an effect may be produced equal to a wind of 10 mi/h (16 km/h); and the opening
of a window in rough weather, or the opening of a door, may entirely alter the registration.

While the Dines anemometer had an error of only 1% at 10 mph (16 km/h) it did not respond
very well to low winds due to the poor response of the flat plate vane required to turn the head
into the wind. In 1918 an aerodynamic vane with eight times the torque of the flat plate
overcame this problem.
Effect of density on measurements
In the tube anemometer the pressure is measured, although the scale is usually graduated as a
velocity scale. In cases where the density of the air is significantly different from the calibration
value (as on a high mountain, or with an exceptionally low barometer) an allowance must be
made. Approximately 1½% should be added to the velocity recorded by a tube anemometer for
each 1000 ft (5% for each kilometer) above sea-level.