Wind gauge or anemometer
Wind gauge or anemometer, 010
An anemometer is a device that measures the speed or the pressure of the wind. With the Fram Museum’s cup anemometer, only the speed was measured. The term is derived from the Greek word ‘anemos’, meaning wind.
The direction of the wind was read on the ship’s main compass in front of the steering wheel on the after-deck.
The cup anemometer normally has four cups mounted on horizontal arms, and fixed to a spindle. They will rotate when they catch the movements of the wind, and consequently trigger the spindle to go around. The rotation speed is proportional with the wind speed.
Wind is moving air. The energy of the wind comes from the sun, and we measure it in metres per second (m/s), kilometres per hour (km/h), knots (kt) and Beaufort (B).
The direction of the wind is given in degrees (180⁰ is from the South, 360⁰ is from the North etc.).