ABSTRACT:The study describes significant outcomes of the 'Metrology for Meteorology' project, MeteoMet, which is an attempt to bridge the meteorological and metrological communities. The concept of traceability, an idea used in both fields but with a subtle difference in meaning, is at the heart of the project. For meteorology, a traceable measurement is the one that can be traced back to a particular instrument, time and location. From a metrological perspective, traceability further implies that the measurement can be traced back to a primary realization of the quantity being measured in terms of the base units of the International System of Units, the SI. These two perspectives reflect long-standing differences in culture and practice and this project -and this study -represents only the first step towards better communication between the two communities. The 3 year MeteoMet project was funded by the European Metrology Research Program (EMRP) and involved 18 European National Metrological Institutes, 3 universities and 35 collaborating stakeholders including national meteorology organizations, research institutes, universities, associations and instrument companies. The project brought a metrological perspective to several long-standing measurement problems in meteorology and climatology, varying from conventional ground-based measurements to those made in the upper atmosphere. It included development and testing of novel instrumentation as well as improved calibration procedures and facilities, instrument intercomparison under realistic conditions and best practice dissemination. Additionally, the validation of historical temperature data series with respect to measurement uncertainties and a methodology for recalculation of the values were included.
An initial roadmap for humidity and related measurements was developed in Spring 2006 as part of the EUROMET iMERA activity toward increasing impact from national investment in European metrology R&D. The conclusions address both humidity (for which standards and traceability methodologies exist, but need to be developed) and moisture content of materials (for which measurement traceability is more problematic and is not so well developed in general). The roadmap represents a shared vision of how humidity and moisture measurements and standards should develop over the next 15 years to meet future needs, open to revision as needs and technologies evolve. The roadmap identifies the main social and economic triggers that drive developments in humidity and moisture measurements and standards-notably, global warming and advanced manufacturing processes. Stemming from these triggers, key targets that require improved humidity and moisture measurements are identified. In view of global warming, one key target is the development of improved models of climate through improved measurements of atmospheric water vapor. A further target is the reduction of carbon emissions through humidity measurement to optimize industrial heat treatment and combustion processes, and through humidity and moisture measurements to achieve energy-efficient buildings. For high-performance manufacturing, one key target is improved precision control of manufacturing processes through better humidity and moisture measurements. Another key target is contaminant-free manufacture in industries such as microelectronics, through high-purity gases of known moisture content at the parts-per-trillion level. To enable these outcomes, the roadmap identifies the advances needed in measurement standards. These include the following: improved trace humidity standards; new humidity standards to cover high temperatures and pressures, steam, and non-air gases; and improved standards for moisture content of materials. Technologies that are likely to be harnessed are also identified, such as emerging laboratory techniques, existing and new research-grade hygrometers, hygro-thermal modeling, and nanotechnology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.