A time constant is the amount of time it takes for a meteorological sensor to respond to a rapid change in a measurand until it is measuring values within the accuracy tolerance usually expected of the sensor.
This most often applies to measurements of temperature, dewpoint temperature, humidity and air pressure. Radiosondes are especially affected due to their rapid increase in altitude.
Famous quotes containing the words time and/or constant:
“Time is a very bankrupt and owes more than he’s worth to
season.
Nay, he’s a thief too: have you not heard men say,
That Time comes stealing on by night and day?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)