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:
“All questions rely on the present for their solution. Time measures nothing but itself. The word that is written may be postponed, but not that on the lip. If this is what the occasion says, let the occasion say it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In verse one can take any damn constant one likes, one can alliterate, or assone, or rhyme, or quant, or smack, only one MUST leave the other elements irregular.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)