Analysis of Anti-Ice Coatings on Field Operational Anemometers

Ice accumulation on anemometers, a side effect of freezing precipitation, makes reliable wind measurements nearly impossible to collect during winter conditions. Over the last decade, the Oklahoma Mesonet has lost more than 26 days worth of wind measurements at its location in Norman, Oklahoma, USA as a result of this freezing precipitation. This study tested the reliability of two anemometers with anti-ice technologies through icing conditions: an R. M. Young Wind Monitor coated in NeverWet™, a superhydrophobic coating, and an R. M. Young Alpine Wind Monitor. Wind measurements collected between 19 Nov. 2013 and 30 Nov. 2015 showed little difference between the performance of the anemometers with anti-ice technologies and an unaltered R. M. Young Wind Monitor through six periods of freezing precipitation. At best, the Alpine anemometer remained iced for 40 fewer minutes than the uncoated anemometer (0.7% of the length of the freezing precipitation event) and the coated anemometer remained iced for 80 fewer minutes (5.1% of the length of the freezing precipitation event). In these six events, the anti-ice technologies did not prove to be more reliable alternatives to the R. M. Young Wind Monitor during freezing precipitation and their implementation would not provide sufficient benefit for operational use in the Oklahoma Mesonet.