Electronics and Analogue Signal Processing
R. G. Harrison · 2014
Voltage processing is commonly required across many meteorological applications for the signal conditioning associated with thermocouples and thermopiles, such as in radiation measurement and for some configurations of resistance thermometer. An even more basic atmospheric voltage measurement is in determining the atmosphere's electric potential at a known height, as in fair weather, the potential at 1 m above the surface is about 100 V. The simplest method of measuring current is to first convert it to a voltage, by passing the current through a known resistance. Electrical resistance is an essential quantity required accurately for atmospheric applications, such as in determining the resistance of a thermistor used for air temperature measurement. If signal processing electronics is installed near sensors at a measurement site, it is likely to encounter a very wide range of atmospheric conditions of temperature, humidity and precipitation.