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:
“What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse
and his rider.
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?”
—Bible: Hebrew Job (l. XXXIX, 17–19)
“Love can no more continue without a constant motion than fire can; and when once you take hope and fear away, you take from it its very life and being.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)