Leonardo da Vinci designed an anemometer to record wind speed.
His device used a light plate that was lifted by the wind along a graduated scale. The height reached by the plate indicated the wind’s strength, allowing observations to be compared rather than judged only by sensation. Leonardo included the instrument among his studies of air, flight, and atmospheric motion.
An anemometer measures wind speed, while a wind vane indicates direction. These instruments are often mentioned together in weather stations but perform different jobs. Leonardo’s design was not the cup anemometer commonly seen today; it used a pressure or lifting effect on a plate.
The instrument reflects Leonardo’s broader method of studying nature through measurable mechanical effects. His notebooks connected wind measurement with questions about bird flight and the performance of proposed flying machines. The design was an early scientific instrument concept, not a modern electronic sensor.