Influence of Instrument Mounting on Measured Wind Speed during Experiments at Marshall Field and M2HATS

All measurements are imperfect because they are influenced by the measuring instrument and any associated support structure. When measuring vertical wind profiles using 3-D sonic anemometers mounted to a tower, the measured wind speed is influenced by the direction of the wind, the size and shape of the tower, the instrument boom length and other factors. All of these factors need to be understood and taken into consideration when selecting measurement sites, towers, and mounting strategies. We present wind speed data collected at the Marshall Field site using several different mounting towers and mounting strategies. The influence of the tower size and instrument boom length are characterized for different mounting configurations to help improve future instrument deployments.