Development of a low cost fast response sensor for wind and temperature measurements

Atmospheric turbulent fluctuations interfere wave propagation in the atmosphere. Therefore they are important to know to describe the atmospheric influence on imaging, laser propagation and electro-optical sensor performance. Regarding in situ point measurements standard instrumentation for monitoring turbulent fluctuations are ultrasonic anemometers. These instruments have a good accuracy in high frequency single temperature and wind speed measurements, but they are very expensive. Often they serve as a reference for a whole measurement area. To characterize a complex or heterogeneous area better, cheaper and yet still reliable all-you-can-measure weather measurement systems would help to increase the amount of measurement stations and gathered data. These would allow a better understanding and description of local environmental conditions and serve for a better validation of high resolution models. We set up a low-budget three-dimensional instrument also on the base of monitoring the velocity of sound in the atmosphere. The new instrument is to be developed, assembled and tested. A 3D printed housing will be used for saving the sensor of environmental conditions. First steps of the development of the new instrument will be presented and discussed.