Meteorological Instruments

Ultrasonic Anemometers

Operational Features and Commands

Extremely Accurate

The SATI series anemometers are designed and built to be very accurate.  The hardware is machined and assembled to be accurate to 0.10 degrees for direction.  There are no analog measurements that need to be converted, the instrument is completely processor based with a digital output.  The hardware and software are built to provide reliability, and accuracy, with an output of 0.01 m/s for the velocity.    

Fast Response Meteorological Measurements

The SATI series anemometers can provide the standard 10Hz or 20Hz output data.  The instrument is also capable of providing any output rate from one output per 60 minutes to 200Hz, should something special be required.  No matter which output rate that might be selected, all the other output measurements will also keep up (see below for other outputs). 

Single Component Measurements

The SATI series anemometers can provide an output of the three orthogonal axes measurements, along with temperature, speed of sound, and status reports of the measurements.  If required, each and every data output measurement can be turned on or off by the operator.  It also has the capability of providing wind speed and wind direction in the horizontal plane, instead of the orthogonal measurements, while also providing the vertical measurement and temperature or other data.   

Ease of Use

The operation of the sonic anemometer is essentially automatic, such that no specific setup procedure is necessary for normal operation and no processing software is necessary for the output data.  The instrument software is designed so the data output is already processed into measurement units.  The standard output is serial digital, RS-232C compatible in a UART asynchronous format, and formatted in ASCII with decimal numbers.  The output can be connected directly to any serial port, such as a digital recording device, a terminal, or a computer using a terminal emulator program.   

Operator Capable Commands

The software is designed in a menu format, so it can be changed or adjusted by the operator.  With the output connected to a computer with a terminal emulator program, the operator can not only see the data directly, as it comes out of the instrument, but the operator can also send commands, everything from turning on/off functions, to changing parameters, from adjusting equations, to changing the speed of the operation.   

Some functions available to the operator are: 

• Select the instrument sample rate.  
• Select from several output baud rates. 
• Select between ‘Data Averaging’ and a ‘Median Filter’. 
• Select an output mode of ‘verbose’ or ‘terse’ with just numbers. 
• Select from several different output formats, including ‘Binary’. 
• Synchronize the instrument operation to an external trigger. 
• Select a software character for triggering, instead of a pulse. 
• Provide a synching output trigger pulse to other instruments. 
• Turn on/off other outputs like temperature, and speed of sound. 
• Turn on/off a status of the measurements being used. 
• Enter an actual RH value for a more accurate temperature reading. 
• If options are added, the data from them can be turned on/off. 

All commands and functions are listed and explained, in detail, in the operations manual.  If anything special is required, consult with the factory. 

Instrument Calibration

The calibration of the SATI anemometer is established by its design parameters, and therefore, the instrument can be used as an absolute instrument.  The calibration of the instrument requires only one measurement, and this measurement can be performed by the operator.  One of the commands, in the software, is a calibration command.  This can be performed by the operator any time the operator thinks it might be necessary.  The complete description of the calibration operation is in the operations manual.