Anemometer

An anemometer is an instrument that measures wind speed. Different designs infer speed from rotating cups, propellers, pressure differences, or sound waves.

Cup anemometer: A wind-speed instrument whose rotating cups turn faster as wind speed increases. Its rotation provides the classic mechanical method for measuring wind speed.
Weather station: A site equipped to measure and record atmospheric conditions. Weather stations commonly pair wind-speed instruments with other atmospheric sensors.
Leon Battista Alberti: An Italian Renaissance architect, artist, and author whose works spanned mathematics and engineering. He described an early instrument for indicating wind force in the fifteenth century.
Wind vane: An instrument that indicates the direction from which the wind is blowing. It measures direction rather than the speed that an anemometer measures.
Wind speed: The rate at which air moves relative to a location, usually expressed as distance per unit time. It is the physical quantity every anemometer is designed to measure.
Propeller anemometer: A wind instrument with a bladed rotor that turns in response to airflow. Its rotor speed tracks wind along the propeller's axis.
Wind turbine: A machine that converts energy in moving air into electricity. Wind measurements help assess turbine sites and monitor operating conditions.
Robert Hooke: An English natural philosopher and inventor who made major contributions to microscopy, mechanics, and meteorology. He designed an early mechanical anemometer in the seventeenth century.
Wind sock: A tapered fabric tube that indicates wind direction and gives a rough visual cue to wind strength. It offers a visual estimate, not a calibrated numerical speed reading.
Calibration: The comparison of an instrument's readings with a reference to establish measurement accuracy. Calibration relates sensor output to reliable wind-speed values.

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