Vaisala Releases WINDCAP Wind Sensor

Helsinki, Finland /WEBWIRE/ -- Vaisala is pleased to announce the release of its WINDCAP ultrasonic wind sensor WMT700, which now includes an option for full-body heating of the unit, making it a top choice for monitoring wind conditions in extremely cold climates, with heavy snow and ice conditions. Vaisala's WMT700 is a professional meteorological instrument that uses ultrasonic sound to determine wind speed and direction. The measurement is based on the ultrasonic sound wave traveling time from one transducer to another, which varies with wind speed. The sensor is highly accurate, reliable, and proven to measure wind conditions in demanding climates, with optimal results. There are no moving parts, allowing for low maintenance and providing the sensor with a long and low-cost operational life cycle.

Direct customer feedback played an important role in the development of this sensor. The sensor body, arms, and transducers can all be heated to minimize snow and ice build-up, ensuring high-quality data acquisition and reliable operations.

Vaisala has been providing weather instruments for over 75 years and understands the importance of reliable, consistent, and accurate wind measurements for the wind energy industry. With operations and maintenance costs continuing to rise, the WMT700 provides a low-maintenance, high-reliability, and high-quality option for wind measurement. The WMT700 provides measurements up to 75 m/s, and its structural endurance is beyond 100 m/s. This measurement range allows both accurate operative measurements and verification of structural loads of the wind turbine at very high wind speed conditions.

The WMT700 sensor provides low-life-cycle costs in the field, bringing value for the customer's investment. The sensor contains self-diagnostics to assist in planning and reducing scheduled maintenance costs, which ultimately minimizes operational costs. The WMT700 is already being used by the most demanding aviation industry applications. The U.S. National Weather Service uses Vaisala's WINDCAP technology that resides in the WMT700 for their forecasting efforts, and now Vaisala is working with the wind energy industry to use this proven technology for their requirements.

Wind energy customers' needs were especially critical in defining Vaisala's development of this version of the WMT700. Wind-resource assessment projects and operational wind farms require continuous and accurate information without data gaps or inconsistent readings, and sometimes these readings are needed in the most demanding winter environments. The WMT700 sensor was designed specifically to operate in the harshest of snow/ice conditions, and has unique heating capabilities that provide optimal sensor performance to meet our customers' most demanding needs. This intelligent heating system design minimizes power consumption requirements while providing industry-leading heating capabilities.

On turbine installations, the sensor will provide data to help control the turbine blades, ensuring the efficient capture of wind energy, as well as support decision making in the event of potentially damaging winds. As wind turbines are expanding their installation locations to cold, harsh climates, the WMT700 will provide highly reliable wind information vital to efficient and continuous operations.

About Vaisala
Vaisala is a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement. Building on 75 years of experience, Vaisala contributes to a better quality of life by providing a comprehensive range of innovative observation and measurement products and services for chosen weather-related and industrial markets. Headquartered in Finland, Vaisala employs approximately 1400 professionals worldwide. You can follow Vaisala on Twitter.