Wind Speed Sensors: Diverse Types and Selection Guide

What kinds of Wind Speed Sensors are there on the market and how should consumers choose?

There are a wide variety of Wind Speed Sensors available in the market. However, according to the detection principles, they can be classified into mechanical sensors, ultrasonic sensors, thermal sensors, Pitot tube sensors, and laser Doppler Wind Speed Sensors, etc.

For mechanical sensors, if it is a propeller type, it measures the wind speed by a set of three-bladed or four-bladed propellers rotating around a horizontal axis. The propeller is installed at the front of the wind vane, ensuring that its rotating plane is always facing the direction of the incoming wind, and the rotation speed is proportional to the wind speed. There is also the cup anemometer type. The sensing part is composed of three or four conical or hemispherical empty cups, which are fixed on the bracket and connected to the vertical rotating shaft. When the wind blows, the cups will rotate around the shaft, and their rotation speed is proportional to the wind speed.

This is a very classic type, often used in scenarios where the wind direction needs to be measured simultaneously (such as meteorological observation stations). Its advantage is low cost, but the disadvantage is that it is easily damaged.

Thermal Wind Speed Sensors use a hot wire (such as a tungsten wire or a platinum wire) or a hot film (a thin film made of platinum or chromium) as the probe. It is connected to a Wheatstone bridge, and through the resistance or current balance relationship of the bridge, the air flow velocity of the measured cross-section can be detected. It is suitable for low wind speeds (0-5m/s) and industrial equipment (such as air conditioners and drones).

The Pitot tube Wind Speed Sensor was invented by the Frenchman H. Pitot, also known as the "airspeed tube" or "wind speed tube". It is a tubular device that measures the total pressure and static pressure of the air flow to determine the air flow velocity. It is mainly used to measure the speed of an aircraft and also has other functions.

The ultrasonic Wind Speed Sensor uses the ultrasonic time difference method to measure the wind speed. It has the advantages of being lightweight, having no moving parts, being sturdy and durable, and it does not require maintenance or on-site calibration. It can output both the wind speed and the wind direction at the same time. The three-dimensional ultrasonic Wind Speed Sensor can measure the vertical wind speed. It is suitable for complex environments (such as environmental protection monitoring and wind power generation).

The laser Doppler Wind Speed Sensor uses the scattering effect of the laser beam to measure the wind speed. It calculates the wind speed by measuring the change in the laser scattering frequency and is often used in fields such as aviation, meteorology, and environmental research.