Novel meteorological sensor for anemometer heating control purposes: Part B — Integration into a single sensor

• A heated anemometer can be used as an icing conditions detector.
• Comparing a measured and a theoretical heat transfer rate can indicate icing.
• A signal indicative of the likelihood of icing can be generated by an anemometer.

This paper is part B of a two-part paper regarding the development of a novel meteorological sensor designed to detect conditions leading to atmospheric icing and act upon it. This paper focuses on the integration of the meteorological probe, presented in part A of this paper, into the design of an ice-free anemometer prototype. Several heating strategies used on commercially available heating instruments as well as strategies developed during this project are first presented. The design of the integrated constant temperature control probe is then presented including a theoretical analysis. The concept was then integrated into the design of the 3rd generation prototype and then into the 4th generation prototype. The improvements between the 3rd and 4th generation are included into this paper as well as the results gathered for both prototypes under laboratory conditions. It is shown that it is possible to detect conditions leading to icing and when icing is occurring through an intelligent algorithm based on a projected heat transfer rate.