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Algorithm Determines Wind Speed and Direction from Venturi-Sensor Data

Author
Zysko, Jan A.
Published
December 2004.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Additional Creators
Randazzo, John and Perotti, Jose M.
Online Version

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Restrictions on Access
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available.
Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
Summary
An algorithm computes the velocity of wind from the readings of an instrument like the one described in another Tech Brief. To recapitulate: The sensor has no moving parts and is a compact, rugged means of measuring wind vectors having magnitudes of as much as 300 mph (134 m/s). The sensor includes a Venturi gap bounded by a curved upper and a curved lower surface that are axisymmetric with respect to a vertical axis and mirror-symmetric with respect to a horizontal midplane. One of the curved surfaces is instrumented with multiple ports for measuring dynamic pressures. The sensor also incorporates auxiliary sensors for measuring temperature, relative humidity, and static atmospheric pressure. The design and operation of the sensor are based on the concepts of (1) using Bernoulli's equation (which expresses the relationship among variations of speed, density, and pressure along a streamline) to calculate the speed of the wind from differences among the pressure readings at the various ports; and (2) calculating the direction of the wind from the angular positions of ports selected according to comparisons among their pressure readings. The present algorithm performs these calculations.
Other Subject(s)
Collection
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
Note
Document ID: 20110020451.
KSC-12516.
NASA Tech Briefs, December 2004; 24.
Terms of Use and Reproduction
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright.
View MARC record | catkey: 16201985