.. _humiditysection: ========================= Water Vapour Measurements ========================= Instrumentation =============== There are currently three types of hygrometers in use on the FAAM aircraft. Two of these are chilled mirror hygrometers (the General Eastern 1011B, and the Buck CR2), the third is the Water Vapor Sensing System (WVSS-II) from SpectraSensors. The Buck CR2 and WVSS-II are used in combination to produce a calibrated volume mixing ratio measurement with a response time of around 2 s. The General Eastern hygrometer is operated as a backup instrument. General Eastern --------------- The 1011B thermoelectric hygrometer measures the dewpoint of ambient air using the chilled mirror technique. Air is sampled using a passive inlet, nominally free of any particles, and passed over a mirror. The mirror is thermoelectrically cooled until it reaches a temperature at which condensation begins to form (the dew or frost point), and is then held at that temperature. The presence of condensation is sensed optically. By definition this is an absolute measurement of dewpoint temperature. An inlet is mounted on the aircraft skin permitting sampling of the ambient airstream. A pressure gradient is created in flight using the difference in flow across two ports, and the ambient air is thus passed through the internal portion of the inlet containing the mirror and sample optics. A control module is mounted on the Aft Core Console providing a visual display of the humidity as well as a user interface. Power for these components is supplied by a further electronics unit on the aft core console, which also outputs the measurements to the aircraft data system. GE "dewpoint" data are recorded at 4 Hz by the aircraft data recording system. "Dewpoint" measurements output by the GE, parameter ``TDEW_GE`` are in fact readings of the mirror temperature. Under many circumstances this is almost equivalent to dew/frost point with the following caveats: * The GE is nominally capable of measuring data in the dew point range -75 to +50 |degC|. Its actual capability is strongly dependent on the ambient temperature and the instrument data are typically subject to increasing positive bias below around -25 |degC|, possibly due to temperature effects in flight. The instrument time response depends on the phase of the condensate layer and the mirror temperature. At dewpoints around 0 |degC| the response time might be expected to be of the order of a few seconds, becoming many minutes at -40 |degC| and below. Data acquired in these conditions should therefore be used with caution. * As is typical of chilled mirror instruments, the GE data mirror data become ambiguous between 0 |degC| and -30 |degC| in which range it is often difficult to distinguish the phase of the condensate layer. This is important since ice and water have different saturation vapour pressures at a given temperature. To put it another way, for a given ambient humidity level, the dew and frost points will be different by a known, non-trivial amount. Since it is not obvious whether the mirror temperature reported is a frost or a dew point, the true ambient humidity cannot be determined from the mirror temperature alone. Supercooled liquid water typically only has lifetimes of tens of minutes on the GE mirror, and below -40 |degC| homogenous freezing will occur. FAAM have not seen instances of a GE liquid water layer below -30 |degC|. Careful examination of the data by the user may therefore be required with this instrument to distinguish the mirror phase and therefore the true ambient humidity. * No correction is made for pressure. There is no pressure measurement within the GE inlet or sample chamber. For there to be flow through the inlet there must be a small reduction in the pressure in the inlet below ambient static pressure. Although small, this is unknown. * GE dewpoint measurements can be positively biased in cloud, as the sampling method appears to allow cloud water into the sample chamber which then floods the mirror. This instrument is no longer routinely calibrated. Dewpoint data from the Buck CR2 chilled mirror hygrometer should be used instead where possible. Where Buck CR2 data is unavailable, data from the General Eastern may be used, but only after careful comparison between the Buck and General Eastern for preceding flights. Buck CR2 -------- The Buck CR2 hygrometer measures atmospheric dewpoint using the chilled mirror technique. There are currently two Buck CR2 units at FAAM, serial numbers 211-M and 219-M, but it is only possible to fit one at a time to the aircraft. The CR2-211-M was first fitted to the aircraft in August 2008 and was used intermittently until January 2016, when the CR2-219-M was fitted in its place. Several problems have been detected with both instruments and both have been returned to the manufacturer for repair and modification several times. Air is extractively pumped through an inlet into a sample chamber and passed over a mirror-like metal surface. The mirror temperature is regulated using a Stirling cycle cooler until condensation begins to form on the mirror, this being the dew or frost point in the chamber. The condensation layer is maintained at a constant level using optical detection and control, and the mirror temperature is measured using an embedded platinum resistance thermometer or thermistor. The CR2 sample inlet consists of a pumped reverse-facing inlet and outlet mounted around 1.8 m back from the nose of the aircraft. The inlet pipes are made of stainless steel and are linked to the CR2 instrument by a stainless steel line with an internal hydrophobic coating. The sample line is heated to 50 |degC| to increase the mobility of adsorbed water. The CR2 is mounted around 60 cm from the inlet, within the aircraft skin compartment. Data are transmitted using an RS232 link. Power for the CR2, pump and heater, and conversion from RS232 to ethernet are catered for in an auxiliary electronics unit. The sample mass flow is controlled to 1 litre per minute by means of a downstream flow controller and pump. The CR2 outputs measurements of its mirror temperature data at 1 Hz, along with other state parameters used to define the stability of the mirror condensation layer. The uncorrected mirror temperature is included in the core file as parameter ``TDEW_CR2`` Both CR2 instruments have been seen to exhibit "cold-soaking". This occurs when the aircraft descends rapidly from high altitude into warmer, moist air. The metal optics block has a high thermal mass and thus warms up slowly in comparison to the air flowing through the chamber. It is thought that condensation occurring on the window between the mirror chamber and the optics "blinds" the instrument. It can no longer "see" what is happening on the mirror, so assumes the mirror needs to be cleaned, and performs a heating and cooling cycle accordingly. This results in unusable data and is a common problem in detachment flying at hot locations. To address the issue, a heater surrounded by insulation has been wrapped around the outside of the optics block of the CR2-219-M, which solved the problem. The same heater has been implemented on the CR2-211-M but it was removed by the manufacturer during a repair and has yet to be reinstated. WVSS-II ------- The WVSS-II was designed for commercial air carriers by UCAR/SpectraSensors, and it is possible to fit up to two units on the FAAM aircraft at windows 6 and 7. Two types of inlet are available, the most commonly used being a purpose-built certified UCAR inlet on the aircraft skin which removes liquid water from the sample stream, to improve measurements in cloud. Although low-profile it is potentially susceptible to icing and has no heater, and this low-profile itself may be problematic, promoting measurement from within the aircraft boundary layer. The other type of inlet is a modified Rosemount Type 102 inlet, mounted on a short pylon to locate its mouth 12 cm from the skin, believed to place it outside the aircraft's boundary layer. It has been shown that the modified Rosemount Type 102 inlet is susceptible to ingesting cloud particles. A measurement is made just inside the aircraft with a tuneable diode laser (TDL) absorption technique using a single wavelength at 1.37µm and a 24 cm path length with :math:`2^{nd}` harmonic detection. Volume mixing ratio data is reported approximately once every 2.3 s, and is interpolated to 1 Hz in the core processing to produce parameters ``WVSS2F_VMR_U`` and ``WVSS2R_VMR_U``, for the flush and Rosemount inlets, respectively (or ``WVSS2F_VMR`` and ``WVSS2R_VMR`` prior to the introduction of the WVSS-II calibration described in section \ref{wvss2cal}). FAAM have three WVSS-II units, serial numbers 4229. 0388 and 4252. 4252 is currently fitted using the flush inlet at window 6 and is the only unit for which an in-flight calibration analysis has been completed (see section \ref{wvss2cal}). Humidity calibration equipment in FAAM labs ------------------------------------------- Prior to 2019, the two Buck CR2 units were routinely sent to NPL for calibration. More recently, a calibration facility has been set up in the FAAM labs so that aircraft hygrometers can be calibrated in-house. The lab equipment consists of a Michell Instruments PSD2 pressure swing drier, a Michell Instruments DG2 dew point generator, and an MBW 973-L transfer standard chilled mirror hygrometer. Tubing from the PSD2 to the DG2 and on to the MBW 973-L and test hygrometers is stainless steel of internal diameter :math:`\frac{1}{4}` inch or 6 mm. Calibration =========== Calibration of lab equipment ---------------------------- The MBW 973-L hygrometer is calibrated yearly at NPL to achieve traceability to ITS-90, with calibration points at no more than 20 :math:`^\circ \text{C}` intervals between -70 and +20 :math:`^\circ\text{C}`. The NPL calibration certificate states: .. pull-quote:: "The calibration was carried out against NPL Standard Humidity Generators, in terms of dew-point temperature. The 'generated dew point' was determined from measurements made using platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs). Traceability of the measurement was provided by calibration of these thermometers to the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) through NPL Temperature Standards. Before use, the hygrometer mirror was cleaned successively with deionised water, isopropyl alcohol and then again with deionised water using cotton buds. Following each cleaning the mirror enclosure was dried in a stream of clean dry air. Air of a known dew-point temperature, at a pressure of 105.0 kPa, was supplied to the test hygrometer inlet. At dew-point temperatures below 0 :math:`^\circ\text{C}` a 1.3 m length of 3 mm internal diameter stainless steel tubing was used. At dew-point temperature above 0 :math:`^\circ\text{C}` a 1.2 m length of 4 mm internal diameter PTFE tubing was used. The moist air was then vented to atmosphere, through a rotameter with a needle valve assembly for flow control. The air flow rate was set so that the flow through the test hygrometer was nominally 0.5 litres per minute, as measured by an additional rotameter on the exhaust of the hygrometer. The measurement procedure was as follows: (a) the temperature of the thermostatically controlled NPL Generator bath containing a primed saturator was set (b) air was circulated through the pipework and the NPL Generator system was allowed to come to equilibrium (c) the hygrometer mirror was cleared of condensate which was then allowed to re-form (d) the RS232 output of the test hygrometer was monitored until the instrument was seen to have stabilised. At the conclusion of the final step of the above procedure a set of ten readings was then taken over a period of at least 20 minutes." The NPL calibration data is used to generate a calibration curve which is applied to the MBW 973-L output. Calibration of Buck CR2 ----------------------- The calibration by comparison of the Buck CR2 units is done in a similar way to the NPL calibration described above. In this case, the DG2 is used to generate a flow of air of a fixed dewpoint, which is split between the MBW 973-L and the instrument under test. The flow rate through each instrument is between 0.5 and 1 litres per minute, as measured by the MBW 973-L itself and by a rotameter on the exhaust of the Buck CR2. As for the NPL calibration, the test hygrometer mirror is cleaned beforehand. For each calibration point, which are no more than 20 :math:`^\circ\text{C}` intervals between -50 and +20 :math:`^{\circ}\text{C}`, the instruments are allowed to stabilise before readings of mirror temperature are recorded over no less than 10 minutes for mirror temperatures below -25 :math:`^{\circ}\text{C}`, and no less than 5 minutes at temperatures above -25 :math:`^{\circ}\text{C}`. These readings are logged over RS232 for each instrument, and a mean and standard deviation calculated for each calibration point. Should the above calibration show a lack of agreement within uncertainty between the MBW 973-L and the Buck CR2, a calibration curve is generated and applied to the Buck CR2 output in processing. Prior to 2021, when one of the Buck CR2 units have not agreed within uncertainty with a calibrated instrument (either at NPL or FAAM), this has been due to a fault with the Buck CR2 (in particular a leak which allows lab air into the chamber, increasing the frost point below -40 :math:`^{\circ}\text{C}`) and not a calibratable drift, and so a calibration curve was typically not required. During calibration of the Buck CR2-211-M in August 2021, a calibration curve was found to be required, correcting the reported mirror temperature by up to 0.5 :math:`^{\circ}\text{C}`. Data processing =============== (See ``p_rio_buck.py`` :cite:p:`citation:buck4` and ``p_buck.py`` :cite:p:`citation:buck5`) Converting Buck CR2 mirror temperature to volume mixing ratio -------------------------------------------------------------- The core processed data for the Buck CR2 includes the mirror temperature and the volume mixing ratio of water vapour. Prior to September 2016, the water vapour pressure was calculated using the parameterisation given by Hardy (1998) :cite:p:`citation:hardy`, which is based on the ITS-90 formulations. In September 2016, v004 of the core data processing was updated to use the Murphy and Koop (2000) :cite:p:`citation:mk` parameterisation for water vapour pressure. The saturation vapour pressure over liquid water is now calculated according to .. math:: :label: pliq \ln(e_{s,liq}) &= 54.842763-\frac{6763.22}{T_{mirr}}-4.210\ln{T_{mirr}}+0.000367T_{mirr}+ \\ & \tanh\Big(0.0415(T_{mirr}-218.8)\Big)(53.878-\frac{1331.22}{T_{mirr}}-9.44523\ln{T_{mirr}}+0.014025T_{mirr}) valid for :math:`123273}'=f_{s,liq,T>273}e_{s,liq} .. math:: e_{s,liq,T<273}'=f_{s,liq,T<273}e_{s,liq} .. math:: e_{s,ice}'=f_{s,ice}e_{s,ice} where :math:`e_{s,liq,T>273}'` is the effective saturation vapour pressure over liquid water above 273 K, :math:`e_{s,liq,T<273}'` is the effective saturation vapour pressure over supercooled water, and :math:`e_{s,ice}'` is the effective saturation vapour pressure over ice. The corresponding enhancement factor for each phase, :math:`f` is calculated as described by Hardy :cite:p:`citation:hardy` for each phase of water, ranging from 1.001 to 1.005 for the conditions in which FAAM flies. Hyland :cite:p:`citation:hyland` estimates the percentage maximum uncertainty in calculated enhancement factor at 1 bar (no data is provided at lower pressures) as 0.01, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06% at 30, 10 , -10,-30 and -50 :math:`^{\circ}\text{C}`, respectively. There will also be uncertainty in :math:`f` due to the uncertainty in :math:`p`, :math:`T` and :math:`e_s`, as follows: .. math:: u(f_{T,e,p})=\sqrt{ \left(\frac{\partial f}{\partial T}\right)^2u(T)^2 +\left(\frac{\partial f}{\partial e_s}\right)^2u(e_s)^2 +\left(\frac{\partial f}{\partial p}\right)^2(\cdot u(p))^2 } When these are all calculated, and summed in quadrature with the uncertainty estimated by Hyland :cite:p:`citation:hyland`, this gives uncertainties in :math:`f` between 0.00025 and 0.00065. This is negligible in comparison with the contribution to the uncertainty in RH from the uncertainty in the vapour pressure and the uncertainty from temperature, so instead of lengthy calculations in the post processing code we use the upper limit of 0.00065. The relative humidity over each phase of water is calculated as follows: .. math:: RH_{liq,T>273}=100\frac{e'}{e_{s,liq,T>273}'}=100\frac{e'}{f_{s,liq,T>273}e_{s,liq}} .. math:: RH_{liq,T<273}=100\frac{e'}{e_{s,liq,T<273}'}=100\frac{e'}{f_{s,liq,T<273}e_{s,liq}} .. math:: RH_{ice}=100\frac{e'}{e_{s,ice}'}=100\frac{e'}{f_{s,ice}e_{s,ice}} These are parameters ``RH_LIQ`` and ``RH_ICE`` in the core file. The uncertaintise in the two relative humidities, parameters ``RH_LIQ_CU`` and ``RH_LIQ_CU``, are calculated using: .. math:: u(RH)=\sqrt{ \left(\frac{\partial RH}{\partial e'}\right)^2u(e')^2 + \left(\frac{\partial RH}{\partial f}\right)^2u(f)^2 +\left(\frac{\partial RH}{\partial e_s}\right)^2u(e_s)^2 } which becomes: .. math:: :label: rhunc u(RH)=\sqrt{ \left(\frac{RH}{e'}\right)^2u(e')^2 + \left(\frac{RH}{ f}\right)^2u(f)^2 +\left(\frac{RH}{ e_s}\right)^2u(e_s)^2 } where the :math:`RH`, :math:`e'`, :math:`f` and :math:`e_s` are calculated as appropriate for the relevant phase of water. :numref:`rhunccontr1` and :numref:`rhunccontr2` show the relative contributions of each term in equation :eq:`rhunc` for two different flights, with data from these two flights shown in :numref:`c128` and :numref:`c213`. It can be seen that the terms associated with uncertainty in vapour pressure and saturation vapour pressure are the largest, while the contribution from the uncertainty associated with the enhancement factor is negligible. Comparing :numref:`rhunccontr1` and :numref:`c128`, with :numref:`rhunccontr2` and :numref:`c213`, respectively, illustrates the variability in the uncertainty in relative humidity, and the contributing factors. Depending on the conditions encountered, the uncertainty in saturation vapour pressure (which comes from uncertainty in temperature) can be more or less important than the uncertainty in vapour pressure (which comes mostly from the uncertainty in the WVSS-II volume mixing ratio). Uncertainty in relative humidity is generally highest when WVSS-II volume mixing ratio is low, as the relative uncertainty in that measurement increases as volume mixing ratio decreases. .. figure:: images/uncertaintycontributions_liq_c128.png :name: rhunccontr1 Relative contributions of each term in equation :eq:`rhunc` over the course of C128. .. figure:: images/rh_liq_c128.png :name: c128 Temperature and humidity data for C128. .. _c213overall: .. figure:: images/uncertaintycontributions_liq_c213.png :name: rhunccontr2 Relative contributions of each term in equation :eq:`rhunc` over the course of C213. .. figure:: images/rh_liq_c213.png :name: c213 Temperature and humidity data for C128. .. rubric:: Footnotes .. [#f1] This is the ratio of the pressure of pure water vapour at saturation to the water vapour pressure of saturated moist air.