The CTA's particular advantages are high spatial and temporal resolution, making it particularly suitable for the measurement of very fast fluctuations in a point. Velocity is measured by its cooling effect on a heated sensor. A feed-back loop in the electronics keeps the sensor temperature constant under all flow conditions. The voltage drop across the sensor thus becomes a direct measure of the power dissipated by the sensor. The anemometer output therefore represents the instantaneous velocity in the flow.
Sensors are normally thin wires with diameters down to a few micrometers.
The small thermal inertia of the sensor in combination with a very high servoloop amplification makes it possible for the CTA to follow flow fluctuations up to several hundred kHz. The complexity of the transfer function calibration of the anemometer mandatory before use. The CTA anemometer is the appropriate instrument for the measurement of time series in one, two or three-dimensional flows where high temporal and spatial resolution is required. If you would like more information, please go to the contact us section.