The case study includes information about all of the products within the Gill Instruments range, with information about their advantages within the environmental analysis field. We have re-published the contents of the case study below.

Gill Instruments Case Study: “Environmental Monitoring with Solid-State Meteorological Instruments” (AWE International, March 2012)

Gill Instruments Ltd supplies a wide range of meteorological instruments for environmental analysis, for applications such as pollution control, agriculture, power generation, structural analysis, defence and aviation. The range of products has evolved over a twenty-five year period and now consists of a wide range of two-axis and three-axis ultrasonic wind sensors, compact multi-sensor weather stations, real-time monitoring software and display equipment.

One of the core advantages of Gill’s range of instruments is the solid-state nature of all of the devices. Traditional cup and vane or propeller wind sensors, where the cup or propeller typically spin on an axis proportional to the wind speed, can prove unreliable in certain extreme environmental conditions due to the failure of the mechanical moving parts. Gill equipment, by contrast, has no moving parts, thereby increasing product reliability and reducing the requirement for routine maintenance and/or repair, which can be especially difficult and costly in remote monitoring locations.

The Gill WindSonic is a popular low-cost Ultrasonic Wind Sensor currently used in thousands of applications globally. Capable of monitoring wind speed and direction, the WindSonic is suitable for measuring wind speeds of up to 60m/s. With a corrosion-free polycarbonate housing, this low-cost device is a viable alternative to mechanical wind sensors.

The WindObserver Wind Sensor range also features ultrasonic wind measurement technology, with extended wind speed and operating temperature capabilities allowing use in more extreme environmental conditions. The Extreme Weather WindObserver has a full stainless-steel construction for supreme corrosion resistance and powerful heating elements in the sensor head to allow reliable use in most freezing weather conditions. Capable of monitoring wind speed and direction at wind speeds of up to 75m/s, this product is proven to provide accurate, reliable wind speed and direction data no matter what the environment. Other products within the WindObserver range include an intrinsically safe variant for use in hazardous areas such as offshore oil platforms and an FAA approved variant for airport weather monitoring.

In some applications it is necessary to monitor turbulent air flows in three axes. Such applications include bridge safety systems, wind farm site performance surveys and flux analysis sites. Gill Instruments offers a range of 3-axis Ultrasonic Wind Sensors suitable for most applications where measuring the vertical flow component is required.

The WindMaster range is capable of monitoring wind speeds up to 45 or 65m/s, with either an aluminium/carbon fibre or full stainless steel body. The R3 range has a similar construction to the WindMaster, with a faster update rate of up to 100Hz making it suitable for use in most scientific research applications. The HS range offers the same high levels of specification and functionality as the R3 range, with a unique horizontal head configuration that allows for highly accurate vertical flow analysis with minimal flow interruption from the sensor geometry.

While capturing wind speed and direction data is essential in most environmental air monitoring applications, it is often necessary to combine this with other measurable environmental parameters to gain a full understanding of conditions. Variables such as wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, dew point and rainfall are regularly used to determine both present weather and to predict future changes in climate.
Over the past few years Gill has introduced a number of compact, multi sensor weather stations to aid in environmental monitoring and weather forecasting. The MetPak II combines the WindSonic wind speed and direction sensor with a barometric pressure sensor and temperature/humidity probe housed in a naturally aspirated radiation shield. Supplied with Gill MetView software, users can monitor environmental conditions in real time on a single intuitive screen.

The MetPak II Remote features the same measurement sensors, however the wind speed and direction sensor can be mounted remotely, up to 10m away from the main weather station housing. MetPak II Remote has been designed for applications where remote monitoring of wind speed and direction is essential.

MetPak Pro is the latest compact weather station from Gill, launched during 2011. This device offers the same standard performance characteristics as the MetPak II, with the ability to expand the system and connect up to four external devices (temperature sensor, rain gauge, water level sensor, pyranometer, soil temperature sensor etc). This is particularly suitable for users looking to monitor a specific group of environmental variables with one system.

With over 25 years’ experience supplying products into environmental monitoring applications, Gill Instruments Ltd is widely acknowledged as a leader in the field of solid-state meteorological instruments and equipment. Gill continues to innovate and develop new products to address environmental requirements, with two new 2-axis wind sensors due early in 2012.

Gill Instruments Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Richard McKay, who joins the meteorological instruments sales team as Product Manager for the MetPak range of Weather Stations.

Richard is a meteorologist with over 20 years’ international experience in the weather industry, including working worldwide as a weather observer and forecaster on land and at sea. He brings with him significant experience as the end user of meteorological instrumentation and has a vast array of application knowledge gained working in various countries and environments worldwide.

Richard is Product Manager for the MetPak Range of Weather Stations

With thorough knowledge of the weather instrumentation market Richard will help further develop the class leading Gill Instruments wind and weather station products and will have direct sales responsibility in northern Europe.

MetPak II Weather Station at Maltese Temple Site

The Gill MetPak II Weather Station is being used as part of a comprehensive air monitoring system at a prehistoric temple site for the Maltese Department of Heritage, the government department responsible for the conservation of several Prehistoric temple sites on the islands of Malta and Gozo.

The monitoring programme is being conducted by the department to better understand how climate and weather affects the stone structures and will enable the department to identify ways of better preserving the temples for future generations.

The system was installed at the Tarxien Temples site on mainland Malta by Air Monitors Ltd, specialists in air monitoring systems. The project involved installation of sensors in and around the site, which wirelessly transmit data, in real time, over a cellular internet connection to a central data server in the department of heritage offices.

MetPak II Weather Station monitors wind speed & direction, temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure

Consisting of five Gill MetPak II Weather Stations that monitor wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure, together with a number of complimentary sensors for solar radiation, soil temperature, soil wetness and water levels, the system has the ability to wirelessly transmit over 70 channels of data to an Envirologger Weblogger, which relays the information via a cellular internet connection to the central data server.

Air Monitors managing director, Jim Mills said “The Metpak II’s ability to communicate digitally with our Envirologger data management system along with its low visual profile, low power requirement and proven reliability, made it ideal for this application. The entire monitoring network at Tarxien was designed to run entirely on low voltage solar power, an important consideration, as it was not possible to run cables around the site due to the detrimental impact on the temple structures.”

More information about the MetPak II weather station can be found here.

Ultrasonic Wind Sensor

Since its launch in 2002 the Gill WindSonic ultrasonic wind sensor has been used in a wide range of applications and has recently been selected by Precise Path Robotics, Inc. based in Indianapolis, IN USA to form an essential part of the positioning system on the RG3, a robotic greens mower. The RG3 is designed to improve the overall quality of golf course greens at a lower operating cost.

The RG3 is completely autonomous, using on-board sensors to determine its exact position and orientation on the putting green.

WindSonic Mounted on RG3

The WindSonic wind sensor is mounted on top of the positioning module, providing real-time wind speed and direction data which is essential for maintaining positioning accuracy in windy conditions.

With no moving parts and high wind speed and direction accuracy, data provided by the WindSonic allows the RG3 to provide consistent results regardless of the strength of the wind.

The RG3 is battery powered so it was essential to choose a wind sensor with low power consumption. WindSonic has a standard power consumption of just 5.5mA so was well suited for use in the application.

Additionally, with a key advantage of the RG3 being a reduction in labour costs, it was essential to select a wind sensor that would not require regular maintenance or be susceptible to damage once installed. WindSonic is completely solid-state with no moving parts, utilising proven, reliable ultrasonic technology to provide precision wind speed and direction data. The sensor has been designed to be maintenance free even in the most extreme weather conditions.

A video of the RG3 with Gill WindSonic installed is shown below:

Images and video of RG3 courtesy of Precise Path Robotics.

<2mA Power Consumption SDI-12 Output

The Gill WindSonic ultrasonic wind sensor, which has become the industry benchmark for low cost, precision ultrasonic wind measurement, now features a low power SDI-12 output.

Capable of monitoring wind speeds up to 60m/s, WindSonic utilises our proven ultrasonic measurement technology with no moving parts. With the updated SDI-12 output, power consumption is less than 2mA in standby mode. Other new features include a vector or scalar rolling average function providing one minute average and one minute maximum speed with associated direction.

WindSonic has a robust, corrosion-free polycarbonate housing suitable for use in harsh weather environments and is particularly suited to meteorological and hydrological installations.

For more information, images and technical details please visit the WindSonic product page or contact our technical team for further advice.

MetPak Pro Weather Station

MetPak Pro measures the most essential weather parameters with the additional capability to connect up to four external measurement devices.

Gill Instruments Ltd, a world leader in ultrasonic anemometers and compact weather stations, has launched MetPak Pro – a new multi-function professional weather station with the ability to connect up to four external measurement devices. MetPak Pro is the first in its class to offer expansion of weather monitoring capabilities to match the user’s exact requirements.

The weather station features an ultrasonic wind speed and direction sensor, barometric pressure sensor and temperature/humidity probe as standard, with a PRT input for an external temperature sensor, a digital input for an external rain gauge and two analogue inputs suitable for a variety of sensors, including but not limited to a water level sensor, pyranometer, pressure sensor or soil temperature sensor.

MetPak Pro is compact and lightweight with no moving parts, reducing the maintenance overhead often associated with mechanical weather stations.

The system features a rugged U-bolt clamping mechanism suitable for attachment to any vertical pipe from 25mm to 50mm diameter, so installation is simple. An external junction box is provided to allow simple connection of external measurement devices. Accessories include power, data and USB configuration cables.

MetPak Pro is supplied with MetSet configuration software and MetView display and data logging software. MetView provides a simple and convenient means of viewing recorded weather data with the information logged for future review.

The launch of MetPak Pro follows the successful launch of the MetPak II weather station in early 2010. The first public demonstration of MetPak Pro will take place at Meteohydex in Geneva, Switzerland from 23rd – 25th May 2011.

Based in Houston, Texas, Dynamax is ideally located to support Gill customers in the South Central United States. This coverage is complemented by support on the West coast by Novalynx Inc (www.novalynx.com) and on the East Coast by PP Systems (www.ppsystems.com).

All three distributors offer the full range of Gill 2-axis and 3-axis ultrasonic anemometers and the MetPak II weather station.

End users will be able to purchase gas analyzers and ultrasonic anemometers directly from LI-COR in the USA or through their network of regional offices and distributors. Gill Instruments will provide technical support for the anemometers from their offices in the UK.

Customers will benefit from a being able to buy a complete package ready configured and from a single source.

For more information about these analyzer and ultrasonic anemometer packages please contact LI-COR at www.licor.com or contact the Gill Instruments technical team.

MetPak II Weather Station

We are pleased to announce the launch of our next generation Combined Weather Station, the MetPak II.  An evolution of the popular MetPak weather station, it has new, improved features including RS232, 422, 485 digital outputs plus additional weather monitoring features such as Barometric pressure and Dew point measurement.

MetPak II is a compact and lightweight multi-sensor instrument that measures a wide range of weather parameters. Gill ultrasonic technology, as used in the proven WindSonic instrument, measures wind speed and direction. Temperature and humidity are measured using industry standard probes housed in a naturally aspirated radiation shield. Barometric pressure is measured within a vented enclosure. A serial data output is provided to interface to industry standard data loggers.

The MetPak II has no moving parts so requires little maintenance, has a robust, proven design and is very easy to install using a rugged U-bolt mounting clamp that attaches to any vertical pipe up to 50mm.  Low power consumption enables this weather station to be used in remote locations where power is at a premium.

For more information please visit the MetPak II weather station product page, or contact our technical team for further advice

Gill recently announced a number of new product developments on the horizon during 2010, with new updates to the WindSonic Anemometer and new MetPak II compact weather station due early in the year. Gill Instruments technical sales engineers will be on-hand at the AMS show to discuss the new developments in more detail.

The Gill WindSonic anemometer has become the benchmark for low-cost ultrasonic wind measurement technology, offering all of the benefits of this advanced measurement technique at an affordable price. The new variant of the WindSonic is due to incorporate further enhancements to allow use in a broader range of applications and environments.

The Gill MetPak is a compact, multi-sensor weather station, offering advanced measurement of the most essential weather station parameters. The new MetPak II will incorporate additional sensors to enhance the functionality of the weather station, allowing for use in a number of different applications.

Gill Instruments is a world leader in ultrasonic wind measurement technology, with the largest range of ultrasonic anemometers available in the market today. If you would like to arrange an appointment to speak with Gill technical sales engineers at the AMS show or would like to learn more about any of the products in Gill’s range please visit the Meteorological Instruments section of our website.