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Home › Industries and applications › Government and emergency › Temporary events and crowd safety
An aerial view of a temporary event site with stage and marquees
Temporary events and crowd safety

Strike the structure
on a number you can justify

Portable wind measurement for stages, marquees and temporary structures, with traceable calibration behind the reading, because the person deciding to strike will be asked how they knew.

0.5 kg
GMX200 compact station weight
0
Moving parts to service between events
6
UKAS-accredited calibration parameters
0 to 75 m/s
WindSonic 75 measurement range

The decision is unpopular either way

Temporary structures carry documented wind limits, and somebody has to decide when they are reached. Striking early costs the event, and striking late is the failure nobody recovers from.

The person making that call will be asked afterwards how they knew, and the answer needs to be better than an app on a phone or a figure from an airfield some distance away.

The measurement is also awkward. An event site exists for a few days, is built by contractors who leave, and has no permanent infrastructure, so whatever measures the wind has to arrive, work immediately and be accounted for at the end.

Public sector sensing map

Every public decision starts at a measurement point

Three views of the work public bodies do with measurement: observe and forecast, manage and regulate, warn and respond. From rainfall and rivers to bridges, flood infrastructure and the incident itself.

Choose a view, then explore 25 measurement points to see what is being measured, where the measurement happens and which sensing technology fits the application.

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Need portable mounting, calibration certification or output detail?Temporary installations, mast mounting, traceable calibration and output formats. Direct from our engineering team.

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The limit is documented, the measurement often is not

Stages, marquees, screens and temporary grandstands all come with wind limits in their documentation, expressed as a speed and sometimes as a gust. Those limits are precise, and the measurement applied against them frequently is not.

Height matters. A limit specified at the top of a structure is not met by a reading taken at ground level in the lee of it, and the difference is largest in the conditions that cause the decision.

Gusts matter more than means. Structures fail on peaks rather than on averages, so the measurement needs to capture short-duration maxima rather than a smoothed figure.

Traceability is what makes the decision defensible. A reading from an identifiable instrument with a calibration history is evidence; a reading from an unidentified device is an opinion with a number attached.

Height and exposure change the number

A wind limit written for the top of a stage roof is not tested by a sensor at head height behind it. Mounting the measurement at or near the structure is what makes the comparison valid.

WindSonic measures 0 to 60 or 0 to 75 m/s at 0.5 kg, which is light enough to mount on a temporary mast or on the structure itself without a structural conversation.

Measured where the limit applies

View WindSonic

Nothing to service, everything traceable

Event equipment spends most of its life in storage and is expected to work on the first morning. Anything with a rotating element is a maintenance task that will not have been done.

Ultrasonic measurement has no moving parts to seize between events, and instruments can be held on a traceable calibration interval so they arrive at each site already defensible.

Out of the case and working

View MaxiMet

The decision gets examined

Event safety decisions are documented, and they are examined if anything goes wrong and sometimes if nothing does. A wind reading is the central fact in a decision to strike or to continue.

Traceable calibration is what turns that reading into evidence. It identifies the instrument, establishes what it was measuring against, and shows the decision rested on something verifiable.

Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited laboratory operating to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, calibrating equipment from any manufacturer, which suits an event inventory assembled from several suppliers.

What an event site measures

Wind measurement at the structures that have limits, with the wider conditions record for crowd and operational decisions.

Wind at the structure

Gill WindSonic ultrasonic anemometers
Temporary masts

WindSonic

Lightweight 2-axis ultrasonic anemometer

Lightweight ultrasonic measurement at 0.5 kg, mounted on a temporary mast or the structure itself.

Range : WindSonic 60 measures 0 to 60 m/s; WindSonic 75 to 0 to 75 m/s
Accuracy : Full-range accuracy published for WindSonic 60 and 75
Options : WindSonic M is heated aluminium, operating to -40 degrees C

View WindSonic

Gill WindObserver ultrasonic anemometers
Exposed sites

WindObserver

Heated 316 stainless open-head 2-axis anemometer

Heated 316 stainless measuring to 0 to 90 m/s for coastal and upland event sites.

Range : WindObserver 90 measures 0 to 90 m/s; 75 measures 0 to 75 m/s
Build : 316 stainless steel, IP66, heated, icing tested to MIL-STD-810F
Direction : 0 to 360 degrees with no dead band

View WindObserver

Gill WindUltra compact ultrasonic anemometer
Mobile

WindUltra

Compact 2-axis ultrasonic anemometer

A compact 2-axis anemometer for vehicle and mobile mounting around a site, sealed to IP69k.

Build : Compact and lightweight, rated IP66, IP68 and IP69K
Use : UAV, USV, portable and mobile installations
Power : Low-power operation for battery and solar deployments

View WindUltra

Site conditions

Gill MaxiMet compact weather stations
Event station

MaxiMet

All-in-one weather station, no moving parts

Wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, solar radiation and rainfall from one unit for the wider operational picture.

Full station : GMX551 carries wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, solar and rainfall
Compact : GMX200 is 0.5 kg and measures wind only
Rainfall : GMX600 and GMX603 carry optical rainfall measurement

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Gill TruMet PW100 optical rain gauge
Rainfall

TruMet PW100

Infrared optical rain gauge

Optical rainfall measurement supporting ground conditions and crowd movement decisions, with nothing to block.

Range : 0 to 200 mm/hr, accuracy 5 percent, resolution 0.1 mm
Output : One pulse per 0.1 mm, replicating a tipping bucket
Build : No moving mechanism to block or seize

View TruMet PW100

Gill MetConnect weather stations
Multi-position

MetConnect

Separable sensors for WMO-compliant siting

Separable sensors where a large site needs measurement at more than one point and more than one height.

Siting : Separable sensors mounted at the heights the standard expects
Inputs : Accepts third-party, analogue and Pt100 inputs
Models : MetConnect One and MetConnect THP

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Not sure which product fits this application?Tell us where it will be installed, what it has to survive and the system the data has to reach. Our team will narrow the range down with you.

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Where event measurement does the work

Festivals

Stages and screens

Wind measurement at the structures that carry documented limits.

Marquees and temporary structures

Hire and build

Contractors who need a defensible reading at handover and during the event.

Grandstands

Temporary seating

Structures whose limits are specified and whose failure is not survivable.

Sporting events

Crowd and operations

Conditions behind crowd movement, ground and operational decisions.

Public events

Civic responsibility

Local authority events where the decision and its basis are both scrutinised.

Multi-day sites

Build and break

Measurement present from the first lift to the last load out.

UKAS-accredited calibration for six measurement parameters

Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited calibration laboratory, Lab 0625, operating to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. It provides calibration across gas and air flow, air velocity, liquid flow, pressure, temperature and humidity.

For an event inventory carrying anemometers, thermal probes, pressure instruments, thermometers, temperature and humidity probes and data loggers, one accredited laboratory keeps equipment from several suppliers on a single traceable schedule.

01 · Gas and air flow

Gas meters · Mass flow controllers · Dispensing systems

02 · Air velocity

Anemometers · Pitot tubes · Thermal probes

03 · Liquid flow

Flow meters and sensors · Process control equipment

04 · Pressure

Gauges · Transducers · Manometers · Transmitters

05 · Temperature

Thermometers · Probes · Thermocouples · Data loggers

06 · Humidity

Hygrometers · Probes · Transmitters

One laboratory. Six UKAS-accredited parameters.Equipment from any manufacturer.

Explore Calibration Services

Getting the reading to the person deciding

An event wind reading is acted on by a production manager or a safety officer, often on a radio, and recorded for the event file afterwards.

Gill supports environmental monitoring, industrial sensing, embedded electronics and systems integration, so event contractors, structure suppliers and organisers can bring measurement into displays and logging.

Whether the requirement is a serial string into a display, Modbus into a site system, SDI-12 into a logger, or analogue into an existing channel, Gill engineers can support integration from specification through commissioning.

Outputs and options

  • RS232 & RS485 : Site displays and production systems
  • Modbus RTU : Site and structure monitoring
  • SDI-12 : Loggers and the event record
  • Traceable calibration : So the decision holds up on examination

What the specification looks like in practice

01

Measured where the limit applies

A limit written for the top of a structure is not tested by a reading taken at ground level behind it.

02

Gusts, not just means

Structures fail on peaks, so the measurement has to capture short-duration maxima rather than a smoothed average.

03

Light enough to mount anywhere

WindSonic measures 0 to 75 m/s at 0.5 kg, which suits a temporary mast or the structure itself.

04

Nothing to seize in storage

Ultrasonic measurement has no moving parts, on equipment that spends most of its life in a case.

05

Identifiable and traceable

An instrument with a calibration history turns a reading into evidence rather than an opinion.

06

One laboratory for the inventory

Independent UKAS-accredited calibration across six parameters, for equipment from any manufacturer.

Ready to specify?Talk through approvals, mounting, power and integration with our team before the specification is fixed.

Discuss your requirements

Questions about temporary events and crowd safety

Temporary structures and wind limits

That is set by the structure documentation and the event safety plan rather than by the instrument. Limits differ between structures and configurations, and they are often expressed as both a mean and a gust.

Gill engineering insightWhat the instrument decides is whether the limit is applied against a reading that can be defended. Specify the sensor, its mounting height and its calibration interval with the review in mind.

As close as practical to the height the limit applies at. A reading taken at ground level in the lee of a structure is not testing the limit written for the top of it.

If the decision may be examined, yes. A reading from an identifiable instrument on a traceable calibration interval is evidence; a reading from an unidentified device is an opinion with a number attached.

Because it measures continuously at the structure rather than at head height when somebody remembers, and there is nothing to seize between events. It also captures gusts rather than what was happening when a reading was taken.

Generally yes. The sensors provide serial, Modbus and analogue outputs, and the engineering team can advise on the interface a particular display or site system expects.

Yes. Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited calibration laboratory, Lab 0625, operating to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, calibrating equipment from any manufacturer across gas and air flow, air velocity, liquid flow, pressure, temperature and humidity.

Speak to our team

Tell us what you need to measure, where and under what conditions. We’ll help you work out the appropriate approach.

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