Performance characteristics of some wind sensors
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10292DOI
10.1575/1912/10292Keyword
WindsAbstract
Summaries of performance data on three wind recorder sensor sets are
presented a W.H.O.I.-built vane and cup set mounted on a vector averaging
current meter (VAWR), a set of standard orthogonal propellers from the
vector measuring current meter (VMWR), and an R. M. Young Company utility
cup and vane set (Gill). Data were recorded in a wind tunnel and on a dock.
Cup or propeller distance constants were 14.5 m (VAWR), 11m (VMWR),
and 3.5 m {Gill). The VMWR propeller distance constant varied little with
azimuth. The VPWR cups had the least sensitivity to tilt, less than 5% at
30° compared to 5% and 10% at 20° for the Gill and VMWR. The Gill and
VAWR vanes had delay constants of 1.4 m and 2.6 m, damping factors of .67
and .58, and natural wavelengths of 5.9 m and 10 m, respectively, with some
doubt of the VPWR vane figures due to experimental uncertainties.
That the Gill cups had the least overspeeding was apparent even in the
vector averaged wind speeds from the dock intercomparisons.
In general, the Gill set is capable of recording vector averaged winds
on a buoy more accurately than the VAWR or VMWR set although it is not as
rugged mechanically.