According the present invention, air velocity and speed of sound which can be used to estimate air temperature can be measured from a sonic anemometer system attached to an airborne platform. Using multiple sonic emitters and receivers coupled to an assembly attached to an airborne platform where the atmosphere is free to pass through the volume between the acoustic elements, air data products can be estimated from the acoustic transit time between acoustic emitters and receivers for use in an airborne data system. The measurement method has high update rates and is resilient against acoustic noise and icing conditions making it a robust sensing platform for use on aircraft.

The present invention is a one-dimensional sonic anemometer paired with a tail vane that continuously rotates the sonic anemometer to be coaligned with the prevailing wind. The one-dimensional sonic anemometer being coaligned with the wind vector can measure the total wind speed directly with the wind direction measured by detection of the relative orientation of the instrument with respect to North as the instrument is held into the wind. Rather than a conventional two-dimensional sonic anemometer, the invention is a hybrid one-dimensional sonic anemometer with a mechanical wind direction measurement.