Kite anemometry is the use of a kite as a sensor to measure the wind velocity, vector and turbulence. It is differentiated from other methods of kite meteorological data gathering in that information is obtained by observing the kite and the forces acting on it. This typically means that all substantial instrumentation is on the ground versus being flown on the kite as a payload.

In the late 70s a number of patents were made regarding a system in which a series of kites were to be used to monitor conditions near airports:

http://www.google.com/patents/US4058010

http://www.google.com/patents/US4152933

Prior Public Lab Posts on Kite Anemometers:

https://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/5-11-2012/using-kites-atmospheric-wind-speed-meters

https://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/2-1-2013/kite-wind-speed-meter-anemometer-patents-0

https://publiclab.org/notes/Ecta64/07-19-2015/unboxing-the-tala-kite-anemometer

https://publiclab.org/notes/Ecta64/07-28-2015/a-day-out-using-the-tala-kite-anemometer