Anemometer trees, and both natural canyons and artificial canyons (urban buildings). The standard anemometer height in open rural terrain is 10 meters. Anemometer An anemometer is a device used for measuring wind speed, and is also a common weather station instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word "anemos", which means wind, and is used to describe any wind speed instrument used in meteorology. The first known description of an anemometer was given by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450. The anemometer has changed little since its development in the 15th century. Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) is said to have invented
Anemometer cups and arms, and may have a value between two and a little over three. Every previous experiment involving an anemometer had to be repeated after the error was discovered. The three-cup anemometer developed by the Canadian John Patterson in 1926 and subsequent cup improvements by Brevoort & Joiner of the United States in 1935 led to a cupwheel design with a nearly linear response and had an error of less than 3% up to . Patterson found that each cup produced maximum torque when it was at 45° to the wind flow. The three-cup anemometer also had a more