Wind Powering America engineering, into the curriculum. Supported by local businesses and utilities, small wind turbines at rural schools also introduce the concept of energy and the need for national strategic thinking on energy issues to the communities that participate in the program. To help states and Native American communities understand their wind resources, WPA created an anemometer loan program. Participants borrow anemometers and installation equipment to measure wind resources. Anemometer data can be used to help businesses, developers, farmers, ranchers, and homeowners determine wind potential in selected areas. Each anemometer collects wind speed data in 10-minute intervals. The data aid wind farm
Anemometer first modern anemometers. They consist of a flat plate suspended from the top so that the wind deflects the plate. In 1450, the Italian art architect Leon Battista Alberti invented the first mechanical anemometer; in 1664 it was re-invented by Robert Hooke (who is often mistakenly considered the inventor of the first anemometer). Later versions of this form consisted of a flat plate, either square or circular, which is kept normal to the wind by a wind vane. The pressure of the wind on its face is balanced by a spring. The compression of the spring determines the actual force