WEMITE #2 was the second trailer-mounted tower constructed for the Wind Engineering Mobile Instrument Tower Experiment (WEMITE) and became operational in time for the 1999 Atlantic Hurricane Season. WEMITE #2 is a single mast (not lattice) tower and collects wind speed and direction data at 3, 5, 7, and 10 m. It also collects temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. The data acquisition system samples at 10 Hz. WEMITE #2 has the capacity to allow for an extension mast to be attached, which allows wind speed and direction data to be collected at 13 m. The primary wind sensing instrument is the RM Young 5106 Wind Monitor.

WEMITE #2 became operation in 1999. It recorded the highest wind speed observation of any surface observing system during Hurricane Rita (2005).

The tower is anchored using four swing arms with hydraulic jacks located at the end of each arm. The foot of each hydraulic jack is anchored to the ground via the same modified mobile home anchors that are used on WEMITE #1. The platform is also stabilized by four more hydraulic jacks, two in the front of the trailer and two at the rear. Up to six guy wires also add stability. It is estimated that WEMITE #2 can withstand peak three-second gusts of 180 miles per hour, although it has never measured winds that high.

The system is powered by a bank of 8 deep cycle marine batteries which are continuously charged by a small wind generator located at the rear of the trailer (similar to WEMITE #1). The data acquisition (DAQ) system is housed within a steel, water proof, and debris proof enclosure located on the trailer. It is controlled by a laptop computer running a LabView based DAQ program. As with WEMITE #1, it can potentially operate for an indefinite period of time.

WEMITE #2 has also been used in other experiments. During the spring of 2004 and 2005 it collected data as part of an instrument array at Reese Technology Center (home of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center’s field site) with the primary goal to sample high winds associated with thunderstorm outflow boundaries.

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