Review of WMO test results on the accuracy of radiosonde relative humidity sensors

1. Expert Team on Upper Air System Comparisons, Agenda Item 3.1 Review of WMO test results on the accuracy of radiosonde relative humidity sensors John Nash Observing Methods Technology Centre, Development, Met Office

2. Outline • Introduction to radiosonde relative humidity sensors • Test methods • Statistical results • Summary

3. Sensors in use • Goldbeaters skin [ Russia, China] • Carbon hygristor[USA (part), India, China?] • RS80 Humicap A or H [50 per cent of global network] • RS90 Humicap [ Finland +??] • Meteolabor “Snow white” [working reference?]

4. Challenge of radiosonde water vapour measurements (1) • Very large range of saturation vapour pressure with temperature: • 20 deg C 23 hPa • -20 deg C 1.2 hPa • -50 deg C 0.04 hPa • -80 deg C 0.0005 hPa

5. Challenge of radiosonde water vapour measurements (2) • If temperature of relative humidity sensor is 1 deg C higher than ambient temperature, the following errors in true relative humidity for ambient temperature result • at 20 deg C -6 per cent w.r.t.water • at -20 deg C -7 per cent w.r.t water • at -50 deg C -7 per cent w.r.t. water

6. Simultaneous comparison between GBS (green), Hygristor (purple) and A- Humicap(blue) , PREFRS , Crawley 1992 Height [km] -70 C -40 C -20 C Relative Humidity

7. Height [km] Relative Humidity

8. Height [km] Relative Humidity

9. RS80 H-Humicap Height [km]

10. Estimates of radiosonde systematic bias from Kazkhstan, 1989 and Wallops Island, Va. 1995

13. Summary(I) • Goldbeater’s skin • Random error in measurements about 8-12 per cent, Systematic errors 10 to 15 per cent at high and low humidity • Poor response at temperatures lower than -30 °C • Sippican Hygristor • Random error in measurements can be as good as 3 to 5 per cent at high humidity and early in flight. Sensors unstable when exposed to high humidity especially in low cloud • Measurements are of poor reproducibility below 25 per cent R.H. • Response unreliable at temperatures lower than about -40°C

14. Summary (2) • Vaisala Humicap -several variants with different sensor properties • In UK , with H-Humicap systematic errors and reproducibility at high and low humidity in the lower and middle troposphere are between 3 and 5 per cent. Significant dry bias is rare, because radiosondes are used before chemical contamination becomes an issue. • This is not true in many areas of the world where chemical contamination continues to produce a dry bias of up to 10 per cent at high humidity.

15. Summary (3) • RS80-H and RS90 have calibrations that are probably within 10 per cent at temperatures lower than -40 °C at night, but A-Humicap has much larger low bias in upper cloud. • RS90 sensors respond down to pressures of at least 100 hPa and temperatures lower than -70 °C • Day time heating of the sensors needs to be compensated to get the full benefit of improved manufacturing calibration facility

16. New generation radiosondes should have sensors capable of meeting the stated user requirement of 5 per cent R.H. accuracy for the first time in most of the troposphere