General Information

Serial #

93K72542/ 20048

Part Number

1

Total Parts

3

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal sensor & wire/ synthetic wire covering

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

92.0 cm

Width

N/A

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Meteorology

Category

Atmospheric temperature measurement

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

YSI

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Ohio

City

Yellow Springs

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

This instrument was apparently in use for twelve years (Ref. 6)

Canada

A temperature sensor of the type used by the Meteorological Service of Canada to gather temperarture and/or dewpoint data across Canada, probably typical of the installations at MAPS1 and IWD automatic station installations from about 1980 to the present (2004) [See Supp. Info. 2004.0318]. Part of a large collection of meteorological instruments acquired from the Meteorological Service of Canada (previously Atmospheric Environment Service) by the CSTM since 1967. MSC is the government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating meteorological data and forecasts in Canada. It was founded in 1871 in Toronto where it is still headquartered. The MSC was originally on the University of Toronto downtown campus but moved to Downsview in 1971 on land owned by UofT. The headquarters houses laboratories, research facilities and calibration and instrument maintenance facilities (now largely contracted out).

Function

The temperature sensing element of a remote temperature and/or dewpoint indicating system which provides ambient & dewpoint temperature measurements.

Technical

An example of a temperature sensing element used in a temperature reading unit or a remote temperature /dewpoint measuring system. The most commonly used temperature sensor in Canada is called a thermistor which is a mixture of metal oxide semiconductors prepared from finely powdered metal oxides. The resistance of these semiconductors changes exponentially with temperature and has a negative temperature coefficient. Over a 100°C range the thermistor resistance changes three orders of magnitude. The first Canadian use of thermistors for weather observations was on an automatic buoy in Lake Ontario during WWII. At automated stations in Canada an array of three thermistors and two precision resistors are potted in a metal probe to produce, with an external balancing resistor, a temperature sensor with a linear response. This is called a thermolinear array. The YSI 44212 thermistor array was selected in about 1980 for network use due to its high resistance (13.7 kW) which almost eliminates the effect of lead resistance in field installations. Also the output which was a linear with temperature did not require special circuits or computations to derive the temperature from the sensor resistance. YSI 44212 Thermolinear Array (Yellow Springs Incorporated) Range -50 to +50°C

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Incised lettering reading '93K72542', '20048' and '62'

Missing

hardware to attach sensor to tower mount (.2)

Finish

plated sensor, white wire covering

Decoration

N/A