LI-COR TriSonica Mini Wind & Weather Station
The TriSonica Mini packs a full met station into something that fits in your hand and weighs about as much as a golf ball. It measures wind in three dimensions by ultrasonic pulse — no cups, no vane, no moving parts to wear out or ice up — and adds temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure from internal sensors, plus a compass and accelerometer so it knows its own heading and tilt.
That combination makes it practical where a conventional weather station isn't: on a tripod you carry to the site, on a mast at a compliance boundary, or mounted to a drone.
What it measures
- Wind speed: 0–50 m/s, 0.01 m/s resolution. Accuracy ±0.2 m/s from 0–10 m/s, ±2% from 11–30 m/s, ±4% from 31–50 m/s
- Wind direction: 0–359° horizontal (±1.0°); vertical component ±15° from horizontal (±2°); 1.0° resolution
- Temperature: −20 to 72 °C, 0.01 °C resolution, ±2.0 °C
- Relative humidity: 0–100%, 0.01% resolution, ±3%
- Barometric pressure: 50–115 kPa, 0.01 kPa resolution, ±1.0 kPa
- Orientation: magnetometer (±50 gauss) and accelerometer (±2 g, ±180° pitch and roll)
- Sampling: up to 40 Hz; output rate selectable at 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, or 40 Hz
Which model do I need?
The mount is the obvious difference, but the termination and available outputs matter more — check these before ordering:
- LI-550F — flat base. Four mounting holes for M3 or 3/16" bolts. Terminates in four bare wires (no connector), and offers RS-232 only. 50 g, 91.9 × 91.9 × 53.6 mm. Choose this to bolt directly to a plate or airframe and wire straight into your own logger.
- LI-550P — pole mount. Fits a hollow ½" schedule 10 pipe or 22 mm carbon fiber tube, so power and data run inside the mast. Terminates in a 12-pin circular connector and adds RS-422 and UART-3V alongside RS-232. 67 g, 80 × 80 × 73.3 mm. Choose this for a sealed, plug-and-play cable connection and longer cable runs.
Quick rule: if you want a weatherproof connector and a ready-made cable, you need the LI-550P. The LI-550F is the bare-wire, integrate-it-yourself option.
Power & output
- Power: 5–32 VDC, 400 mW
- Serial: continuous ASCII stream at 115,200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit
- Operating range: −20 to 72 °C, 0–100% RH non-condensing, up to 5,000 m altitude
Add telemetry and it reports on its own
Because the sensor streams standard RS-232 serial, a telemetry gateway with a serial input can read it and push the data to the cloud. Pair it with an Ayyeka Wavelet (which accepts RS-232, RS-485, and SDI-12) plus a Geotech SiteView data plan and you have an unattended met station reporting wind and weather alongside your water level or water quality sensors on one dashboard. Browse all telemetry systems.
Typical applications
Weather monitoring and reporting, atmospheric and boundary-layer research, ecosystem and microclimate studies, air quality and trace-gas work where wind direction identifies the source, drone and uncrewed aerial system (UAS) mounting, and fixed or portable tower deployment.
Cables & documentation
The LI-550P connects with a 12-position circular plug cable assembly (5 m or 10 m). The LI-550F does not use these cables — it ships with bare wires.
Not sure which model or how to integrate it with your logger? Contact us and we'll spec it out.