Anemometer units of measurement may include: Generally speaking, the more expensive and sophisticated the anemometer is, the more units of measurement it will offer. What is an anemometer unit of measurement?Īnemometers measure wind speed in a variety of units. It can then translate that measurement into a calculation of wind speed in units like miles per hour, kilometers per hour, meters per second or in the case of sailing applications, Knots. Most anemometers work by counting the number of revolutions that their circular array of cups or windmill or blades make within a period of time (say, a 10 second interval) to see how fast the wind is blowing. What is an anemometer and how does it work?Īn anemometer measures wind speed.
A wind turbine surveyor may use a handheld portable anemometer to determine if a particular area would be a good location to harvest wind power from. Storm chasers and weather hobbyists might use anemometers to understand how fast the wind is blowing.
A professional sports shooter might use an anemometer to calculate crosswind so they can compensate and hit a target from many hundreds of feet away. A meteorologist might use anemometer data in their forecasts. An air conditioning repair technician might use an anemometer to measure the output of a unit they are troubleshooting. Some anemometers are built into larger, more complex weather stations which contain various other instruments and can provide weather forecasts based on a combination of all the data.įor instance an anemometer may be used to measure how windy it is before you go sailing on a sailboat. What is an anemometer used for?Īn anemometer is for measuring wind speed. Some are portable handheld anemometers and others are built in and affixed to buildings as a part of weather stations. As you can see, anemometers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.