Anemometers

An anemometer is a handheld instrument which is primarily used to measure wind speed and wind gusts. A hand held anemometer is a unit that measures wind pressure but due to the nature of speed and pressure the anemometer although designed for the purpose of measuring velocity will also measure pressure. The anemometer was originally developed by Leon Battista Alberti back in 1450 but has been modified and streamlined over the last five centuries and is now available as a digital hand held anemometer that is readily available today.
Features
• Light weight and portable – unit weighs approximately half a kg
• Anodized aluminum material
• Digital printout
• Can be electronic or manual
• Liquid crystal display
• Can transmit data to another location.
• Switches off automatically when no wind is detected after a 4 minute interval
• Speed can be measured in kilometers per hour, miles per hour or knots and these can be manually selected depending on requirements.
• Has a built in compass to measure wind direction
• Has a long battery life before recharging – 15 to 70 hours with the electronic unit using the most battery power.
• Will gauge wind direction and speed in a 360 degree radius.

An added benefit is that you can mount the hand held anemometer unit to a vehicle if required to measure wind speed of approaching storms or hurricanes while the vehicle is in motion. The hand held unit is generally used where other types of anemometers would prove difficult to erect permanently.
There are many different anemometers available from hand held anemometer digital readout units to pole and wall mounted units depending on the application but the hand held unit is the most popular unit as it can be taken to various different sites whereas the others are fixed and only read the wind speed in that specific area.

Handheld Anemometers

Anemometers are available in many variations but the most popular is the hand held anemometer due to the versatility and portability of the unit. They are lightweight and compact with an anodized aluminum outer casing and are compact and fit into a small carry case. The unit weighs approximately half a kilogram and the when packed the case weighs less than 3 kg.

The hand held anemometer is water resistant which is necessary when storm chasing or just for use in adverse weather conditions or out at sea. The units are hard wearing and virtually indestructible when man handled. An anemometer is designed to measure wind speed in kilometers, miles or knots and can be manually set depending on the application but due to the synergy between wind speed, wind gusts and pressure the unit is able to measure all three variations. They also have a built in compass to measure wind direction.

Liquid crystal displays will give a 96% accuracy reading of wind speeds in a 360 degree radius and can if required transmit the data to another location. It is the ultimate tool need by industries that depend on the wind factor to determine the actions needed such as sowing seeds in farming or even for sports enthusiast who rely on wind such as kiting or those that don’t such as golfers or when flying model aircraft. The hand held anemometer is an inexpensive and versatile addition to most sports and obviously in industrial applications.

The anemometer was first designed in 1450 and has changed very little except by the added benefit of digital technology but is still available as a manual version back like it was five centuries ago. Although today it is a compact and streamlined version of the original one. The hand held anemometer can be fitted to a bracket to remain fixed in place depending on the application it is used for such as being attached to a moving vehicle when storm chasing.

Anemometer And its Types

An anemometer is a handheld instrument which is primarily used to measure wind speed and wind gusts. A hand held anemometer is a unit that measures wind pressure but due to the nature of speed and pressure the anemometer although designed for the purpose of measuring velocity will also measure pressure. The anemometer was originally developed by Leon Battista Alberti back in 1450 but has been modified and streamlined over hundreds of years and is now available as a digital hand held anemometer that is readily available today

The anemometer was originally designed for use at weather stations but is now used in many industries or for other activities such as farming and even golf. Whatever industry or sport is played outdoors can utilize an anemometer effectively to gauge wind effects.

The name ‘anemometer’ was originally derived from the Greek word anemos which means wind and is used in any aspect of meteorology or aerodynamics. It was generally only used to determine wind speed but in 1991 it was further developed to measure wind direction too.

There are a number of types and designs of anemometers

·         The cup anemometer – a relatively simple design of four mounted cups which would measure the wind flow this design is still used extensively as a standard measure for wind resource assessment.

·         Vane anemometers – which work on the same basis as a windmill and measures wind speed and flow rate and is generally used where wind flow is consistently in the same direction as in a closed environment such as a mine shaft.

·         Hot wire anemometers – use fine wires which are heated and measures are obtained by the resistance of wind flow on the heated wires. This is described as a thermal measurement.

·         The Laser Doppler Velocimetry – which measure velocity using a beam of light.

·         Ultrasonic anemometers - which use ultrasound waves to measure the wind speed and are generally used to detect turbulence.

·         Acoustic resonance anemometers – are a variation of ultrasonic anemometers using acoustic waves as the means of measurement.

·         Ping-pong ball anemometers which are generally home made and are used by students

There are a number of variations of eachanemometer which have been modified by changing certain aspects marginally to be effective in specific areas where wind speed needs to be measured as in open or closed environments. When measuring wind speed the surrounding terrain needs to be taken in to account as well as surrounding buildings or even trees in order to obtain a correct reading.

There are many different anemometers available from hand held anemometer digital readout units to pole and wall mounted units depending on the application but the hand held unit is the most popular unit as it can be taken to various different sites whereas the others are fixed and only read the wind speed in that specific area.