Long-Term Tests of Some Inexpensive Barometers and Results of Pressure Cycling of an AIR-DB-lA

For approximately 1.5 years, daily observations of barometric pressure were made with a variety of sensors and compared to readings from a Paroscientific Model 760-16B while all sensors were maintained at a temperature of 20 C + 20C. The results of two samples from each of three inexpensive (strain...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Payne, Richard E
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCURACY
AIR
BAROMETERS
BAROMETRIC PRESSURE
BUOYS
CHIPS(ELECTRONICS)
COMPUTATIONS
CYCLES
CYCLIC TESTS
DAILY OCCURRENCE
DETECTORS
DRIFT
LONG RANGE(TIME)
MEASUREMENT
Meteorology
PRESSURE
RATES
ROUGHNESS
SAMPLING
SILICON
STRAIN GAGES
TEMPERATURE
TEST AND EVALUATION
WEATHER
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Summary:For approximately 1.5 years, daily observations of barometric pressure were made with a variety of sensors and compared to readings from a Paroscientific Model 760-16B while all sensors were maintained at a temperature of 20 C + 20C. The results of two samples from each of three inexpensive (strain gauge integral to a silicon chip) pressure sensors are reported on. The SenSym Model SCX15AN, Nova PI and the Microswitch Model 134PC15A1 had standard deviations of 0.2, 2.6, and 5.6 mb, respectively. The SenSym amd Nova sensors had drift rates of 0.5 and 0.9 mb per year, respectively. A fourth sensor, the Microswitch, had output that was too noisy for a meaningful computation of drift rate. Neither of the Omega Model PX93-015GV samples operated properly. The excellent results indicate that strain gauge sensors are worth considering for measuring barometric pressure in situations where the highest accuracy is not required. Temperature effects, which can be substantial in strain gauge sensors, were not investigated. Pressure cycling tests of an AIR Model DB-1A show that cycles of 3-10 psi above ambient pressure do not affect the accuracy of the sensor, even after millions of cycles. Therefore, rough weather conditions at sea, i.e., waves washing over the barometer port on a drifting buoy, are unlikely to cause inaccuracy in an AIR sensor.