System and method for a high speed hybrid sonic and mechanical temperature and wind measurement sensor
The present invention is a one-dimensional sonic anemometer paired with a tail vane that continuously rotates the sonic anemometer to be coaligned with the prevailing wind. The one-dimensional sonic anemometer being coaligned with the wind vector can measure the total wind speed directly with the wind direction measured by detection of the relative orientation of the instrument with respect to North as the instrument is held into the wind. Rather than a conventional two-dimensional sonic anemometer, the invention is a hybrid one-dimensional sonic anemometer with a mechanical wind direction measurement.
1 . A hybrid stationary anemometer system for measuring a volume space of interest in an atmosphere, comprising:
a mechanical wind vane to align at least one 1-dimensional anemometer in the wind direction and measure the wind direction; and
an electronic processing circuit that processes data from the mechanical wind vane and the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer, wherein
the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer includes a single output signal generator and a received signal detector, the single output signal generator including a single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter configured to emit an output signal through the volume space,
the received signal detector includes at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers operatively connected to receive an output signal from the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter, each of the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers being operatively mounted to be spatially separated from the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter, and
the wind vane is operatively connected to movably align with a direction of movement of wind in the volume space, the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter and the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers being fixedly and spatially mounted to the wind vane along a single plane such that the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers are operatively aligned to receive the output signal emitted through the volume space from the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter while the wind vane aligns with the direction of the wind movement.
2 . A hybrid anemometer system according to claim 1 , wherein the output signal is produced by an electronic signal generator.
3 . A hybrid anemometer system according to claim 1 , wherein the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter and the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers are mounted on extension arms spatially separated from each other such that portions of the volume space pass through between the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter and the at least four piezo or electromagnetic receivers.
4 . A hybrid anemometer system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer further includes a thermometer configured to measure a local atmospheric temperature of the volume space.
5 . A hybrid anemometer system according to claim 1 , wherein electronic processing circuit is configured to process the data from the mechanical wind vane and the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer based on formulas (1) and (2):
❘
"\[LeftBracketingBar]"
r
¯
-
w
¯
*
τ
❘
"\[RightBracketingBar]"
=
c
*
τ
(
1
)
τ
2
(
c
2
-
w
2
)
+
2
*
Δ
x
*
w
x
+
2
*
Δ
y
*
w
y
+
2
*
Δ
z
*
w
z
=
r
2
(
2
)
wherein r is the displacement vector from the emitter to one of the at least four receivers, w is the wind velocity vector, τ is the time for a wavefront to leave the emitter and be received at the one of the at least four receivers, and c is the speed of sound, and further based on the matrix equation:
[
τ
1
2
2
*
Δ
x
1
2
*
Δ
y
1
2
*
Δ
z
1
τ
2
2
2
*
Δ
x
2
2
*
Δ
y
2
2
*
Δ
z
2
τ
3
2
2
*
Δ
x
3
2
*
Δ
y
3
2
*
Δ
z
3
τ
4
2
2
*
Δ
x
4
2
*
Δ
y
4
2
*
Δ
z
4
]
[
c
2
-
w
2
w
x
w
y
w
z
]
=
[
r
1
2
r
2
2
r
3
2
r
4
2
]
wherein each row represents a time of flight measurement from the emitter to each one of the at least four receivers calculated from a window of time of interest in a raw signal time series, r n is the distance between the nth emit/receive pair, and Δx n /Δy n /Δz n are the distances in x/y/z between the nth emit/receive pair, and τ n is the time of flight between the nth emitter and receiver.
6 . A method of enhancing an anemometer system, comprising the steps of:
providing a mechanical wind vane to align at least one 1-dimensional anemometer in the wind direction and measure the wind direction; and
processing via an electronic processing circuit data from the mechanical wind vane and the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer, wherein
the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer includes a single output signal generator and a received signal detector, the single output signal generator including a single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter configured to emit an output signal through the volume space,
the received signal detector includes at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers operatively connected to receive an output signal from the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter, each of the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers mounted spatially separated from the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter, and
the wind vane movably aligning with the direction of movement of wind in the volume space, the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter and the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers being fixedly and spatially mounted to the wind vane along a single plane such that the at least four piezo and/or electromagnetic receivers are operatively aligned to receive the output signal emitted through the volume space from the single piezo and/or electromagnetic emitter while the wind vane aligns with the direction of the wind movement.
7 . A method according to claim 6 , where the at least one anemometer includes at least one thermometer for reading a local atmospheric temperature so as to calculate a measured wind speed from time-of-flight observed by the acoustic and/or electromagnetic wave emitter and receiver.
8 . A method according to claim 6 , where the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer is a sonic anemometer that uses the time-of-flight between the emitter and the receiver to calculate the wind speed.
9 . A method according to claim 6 , where the 1-dimensional anemometer is provided with:
a waveform generator emits a continuous wave signal across the volume of space to be measured.
10 . A method according to claim 9 , where the time-of-flight measurement is calculated by a phase delay between the emitted and received signal.
11 . A method according to claim 6 , the step of processing via the electronic processing circuit includes processing the data from the mechanical wind vane and the at least one 1-dimensional anemometer based on formulas (1) and (2):
❘
"\[LeftBracketingBar]"
r
¯
-
w
¯
*
τ
❘
"\[RightBracketingBar]"
=
c
*
τ
(
3
)
τ
2
(
c
2
-
w
2
)
+
2
*
Δ
x
*
w
x
+
2
*
Δ
y
*
w
y
+
2
*
Δ
z
*
w
z
=
r
2
(
4
)
wherein r is the displacement vector from the emitter to one of the at least four receivers, w is the wind velocity vector, τ is the time for a wavefront to leave the emitter and be received at the one of the at least four receivers, and c is the speed of sound, and further based on the matrix equation:
[
τ
1
2
2
*
Δ
x
1
2
*
Δ
y
1
2
*
Δ
z
1
τ
2
2
2
*
Δ
x
2
2
*
Δ
y
2
2
*
Δ
z
2
τ
3
2
2
*
Δ
x
3
2
*
Δ
y
3
2
*
Δ
z
3
τ
4
2
2
*
Δ
x
4
2
*
Δ
y
4
2
*
Δ
z
4
]
[
c
2
-
w
2
w
x
w
y
w
z
]
=
[
r
1
2
r
2
2
r
3
2
r
4
2
]
wherein each row represents a time of flight measurement from the emitter to each one of the at least four receivers calculated from a window of time of interest in a raw signal time series, r n is the distance between the nth emit/receive pair, and Δx n /Δy n /Δz n are the distances in x/y/z between the nth emit/receive pair, and τ n is the time of flight between the nth emitter and receiver.