Extreme wind velocity measurement system

US6370949B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration · US

Inventors

• Jan A. Zysko · Merritt Island, US
• Stanley O. Starr · Indialantic, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 14, 1999
• Grant date: Apr 16, 2002
• Expiry date: Sep 14, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01P5/01
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A wind velocity measurement system employs two different principles of physics to measure wind speed: (1) the aerodynamic force imparted to a low profile, rigidly mounted cylindrical rod, and (2) the vibrating frequency of the rod as vortices are shed from the rod's cylindrical surface. A set of strain gages is used as a common sensor for both measurements, and these provide force measurements imparted by the wind on the rod. The signals generated by the strain gages are fed to processing circuitry that calculates the wind speed and direction from the signals. The force measurement is proportional to the square of the wind speed. Since it is a vector quantity, it can also be used to derive wind direction. The vortex shedding frequency is a scalar quantity and is linearly proportional to wind speed. This frequency can be calculated by analyzing the force measurements generated by the strain gages over time. Both of the wind velocity calculations can be advantageously used by the processing circuitry to generate an accurate wind velocity reading.