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:
“These sudden ends of time must give us pause.
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
More time, more time.”
—Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)
“It is useless to contend with the irresistible power of Time, which goes on continually creating by a process of constant destruction.”
—E.T.A.W. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Wilhelm)
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