Numerical modeling of an enhanced hot film anemometer for planetary exploration

Curiosity rover, now operating on Mars, is equipped with a complete meteorological station known as REMS. Among other sensors it carries a hot film anemometer for wind measurement. The work exposed here looks for an improvement in the overall sensitivity of such instrument, maintaining key parameters of the sensor but modifying the geometrical configuration and/or the size of the sensitive dice. Directional information can be obtained thanks to the differences in the flow patterns around the hot dice. Such differences cause an alteration in the amount of heat energy evacuated from each die, what allow to deduce wind direction. Modifications in die disposal will generate different flow patterns when changing the wind direction. Thus, it is possible to obtain better resolution if the flow patterns of the proposed geometry are more sensitive to the relative direction. In order to look for the optimal configuration, a parametrical analysis is carried out varying the geometrical variables among a certain range...