• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.325-331
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• 2010

Three-cup anemometers are popular devices for measuring wind speeds in automated weather stations, environmental monitoring systems, and wind turbines. Cup anemometers usually suffer from lack of long-term stability owing to the wear of the bearing systems that support the rotational parts. The bearing systems are susceptible to external pollutants, vibrations, and gusts. Therefore, these anemometers have to be calibrated regularly to maintain the desired characteristics for measuring wind speed. In the present study, a new in-situ calibration system to help reduce cost and save time by calibrating the cup anemometers at the installation site is proposed. A portable in-situ calibrator was fabricated. After the characteristics of this calibrator were verified, it was used to calibrate cup anemometers. Some of the calibration results were compared with the data obtained by wind tunnel testing.