FY 2003

Calibration procedures and instrumental accuracy estimates of ATLAS air temperature and relative humidity measurements

Lake, B.J., S.M. Noor, H.P. Freitag, and M.J. McPhaden

NOAA Tech. Memo. OAR PMEL-123, NTIS: PB2003-104619, NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA, 23 pp (2003)

Calibration procedures for sensors measuring air temperature and relative humidity from NextGeneration Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System (ATLAS) moorings are described. Sensor accuracy when first deployed and calibration drift are quantified. Modifications to sensors and procedures since a previous report (Freitag et al., 1994) are documented. Instrumental error for air temperature measurements is estimated to be 0.22°C, nearly equal to that from the previous report. Instrumental error for relative humidity (RH) measurements is estimated to be 2.73 %RH, smaller than the previously reported value of 4.1 %RH. The decrease in relative humidity is due to improvements in instrumentation and calibration procedures.