The Excess Temperature of a Rigid Fast-Response Thermometer and Its Effects on Measured Heat Flux

Abstract

In outdoor experiments a temperature sensor is always subjected to a radiation load that results in a temperature excess error. Not only the mean temperature is effected by this radiation load but also, for a fast-responding sensor, the measured temperature fluctuations. In the present paper the mean excess temperature error is discussed and the fluctuation error is analyzed. A technique is presented for estimating the importance of this error in eddy correlation measurements as well as temperature variance measurements. It appears that the mean excess error as well as the fluctuation error can be considerably reduced by coating the sensor with while paint.