Which Leonardo da Vinci instrument was designed to measure wind speed?

Leonardo da Vinci designed an anemometer to measure wind speed.

His design used a vertical plate that moved in the wind. A graduated scale allowed an observer to estimate the force or speed of the airflow from the plate’s position. Leonardo recorded the instrument in the context of studying flight and atmospheric conditions.

Anemometers are now standard meteorological instruments, most commonly using rotating cups or a propeller. Leonardo’s plate-based arrangement was simpler and did not operate like the cup anemometers widely seen today.

The instrument is often linked with Leonardo’s investigations of birds, air resistance, and flying machines. It should not be confused with a hygrometer, which measures humidity, or a barometer, which measures atmospheric pressure.