Endurance and stability of some surface meteorological sensors under land- and ship-based operating environments

Abstract

The endurance and stability of some surface meteorological sensors under land- and ship-based operating environments is described. The sensors evaluated are those for measurement of relative humidity, barometric pressure and wind speed. It has been observed that humidity sensors (Rotronic) measurements are stable, with an accuracy of plus or minus 4% providing an endurance of at least 3 years during both land and ship based applications. The pressure sensors (AIR) on land (ship) exhibited deviation of zero-point offset from -0.66 to -0.2 (-0.41 to -0.71) mb over a 2-year period, which has been found to be its life span for continuous round the clock operation. The wind speed sensors (YOUNG) have also exhibited an average maintenance-free life span of 2 years with accuracy within plus or minus 0.3 m/s up to 25 m/s wind speed