Vaisala - Annual Report 2005

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A great variety of applications

Vaisala Instruments manufactures instruments for the measurement of relative humidity, dewpoint, barometric pressure, carbon dioxide, wind, rain, visibility, cloud height and present weather. The division's offering also includes a compact weather transmitter, which measures six different weather parameters. The division's products are used in a variety of applications and industries, such as pharmaceutical, automotive and food industries, power production, building automation, biotechnology, as well as meteorology.

Industrial instruments

The product offering is comprehensive, and includes both fixed as well as portable models. Most of the instruments are configurable. The customer chooses the desired functionalities and the probe suitable for their application. The equipment is delivered to the customer ready configured.

Relative humidity measurement equipment is required in many industrial drying processes, such as in paper and timber industries. Optimal humidity conditions improve productivity and product quality, reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs. Monitoring moisture in oil helps to prevent corrosion and machinery failures. Measuring humidity levels in buildings to ensure good indoor air quality is important, since mold is a serious health hazard.

Dewpoint measurement equipment is used in industries where the formation of dew can be a problem or where it is important to know the precise water content of air or gas. Dewpoint measurement is important in applications such as metal treatment, compressed air systems, plastic drying, and natural gas pipelines.

Carbon dioxide measurement equipment is used for controlling carbon dioxide levels. This is important in industry process control, commercial greenhouses, ecological applications as well as indoor ventilation control.

Barometric pressure measurement equipment is used in particular for weather observations where pressure is an important parameter. In addition to this, barometric pressure is measured in industrial applications, such as laser interferometer systems and engine performance testing equipment. Barometric pressure sensors are usually also included in different weather observation equipment.

Meteorological instruments

Wind, visibility and cloud height measurement equipment can be used in different weather observation applications.

The new wind measurement instruments are based on ultrasound, which means they do not include mechanical or moving parts. The instruments are used in meteorological, wind energy, shipping and traffic applications as well as in air quality control and agriculture.

Optical visibility sensors are used at airports and runways, for road and waterway weather visibility measurements, and as additional components in weather stations. More versatile than visibility sensors are the so-called present weather sensors, which are used by meteorological institutes and aviation authorities. The instruments indicate weakened visibility by recognizing seven different precipitation types: rain, freezing rain, drizzle, freezing drizzle, mixed rain/snow, snow, ice pellets as well as fog, mist, haze (smoke, sand) or clear.

Cloud height measurement equipment is used for cloud height vertical visibility measurement. Their most common applications include airports and different meteorological applications.

The weather transmitter, introduced during the last quarter of 2004, is a compact, easy-to-use and integrate weather station, which measures temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, and liquid precipitation. It is used in sectors where daily weather data plays a significant role in day-to-day operations. These include agriculture, air quality measurements, boat marinas, ski resorts and dense weather observation networks. The weather transmitter can also be integrated with wireless machine-to-machine communication modules, PDAs and other mobile terminals.