Special Relative

and23,
Temperature
......................Measurement
MAPANCalibration
- Journal ofof
Metrology
Society Humidity
of India, Vol.
No. 2, 2008;(RHT)
pp. 115-121

Calibration of Special Relative Humidity and

Temperature (RHT) Sensors and Evaluation and
Expression of Uncertainty in the Measurement
BHIKHAM SINGH, HARI KISHAN* and Y. P. SINGH
National Physical Laboratory (NPLI), CSIR
New Delhi - 110 012, India
*e-mail : hkishan@mail.nplindia.ernet.in
[Received : 06.03.2007 ; Revised : 07.01.2008 ; Accepted : 29.05.2008]

Abstract
This paper reports the calibration of special type of relative humidity and temperature sensor, which
gives the output in terms of millivolts, measured by precision digital multimeter (DMM) to further
estimation of relative humidity in the range of 25 %RH to 95 %RH. The sensor has been calibrated
against the standard aspirated psychrometer having a pair of matched dry and wet bulb quartz
thermometers. The temperature of wet bulb thermometer is effectively depressed when a ventilated
airflow is maintained at a speed more than 3 metre/second. The relative humidity of reference standard
psychrometer is computed using psychrometric equation to relate with the output of the RH indicator
under comparison. The paper also describes the details of estimation and expression of expanded
uncertainty in the calibration of the sensor at measured relative humidity. A sufficient number of data
were undertaken to evaluate the uncertainty at a confidence-level of approximately 95% for a normal
probability distribution.

1.

Introduction

The measurement and control of relative humidity

plays a significant role in industry, including various
sectors such as electrical, pharmaceutical, textile, food
and aerospace. Its need is increasing day by day with
the modernization of industries and awareness of
quality system in regard to ISO 9000. This awareness
has led to the industries for getting their RH indicators
calibrated against the National Humidity Standard.
The gravimetric method of water vapour measurement
is considered the most precise and accurate. This
method permits the measurement of the amount of
water vapour in a given mass of the moist gas sample.
The quantities measured in this method are
fundamental; it gives an absolute measure of humidity.
Hence the gravimetric method is used as a primary
Metrology Society of India, All rights reserved.

standard of humidity against which other methods

are compared. The National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), USA, National Physical
Laboratory (NPL), UK, Physikalisch-Technische
Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany, National Metrology
Institute of Japan (NMIJ), Japan and Korea Research
Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Republic
of Korea use gravimetric method [1-6]. Various other
techniques such as two-pressure, two-temperature,
two pressure-two temperature, mixed flow and
aspirated psychrometer [7-11] are used as the
secondary humidity standards. At NPL, India an
aspirated psychrometric technique has been
established [12-14] as the reference humidity
standard. No measurement is complete without
assigning the value of uncertainty to it. The detailed
study of the uncertainty associated with the
measurement has been evaluated and discussed
115

Bhikham Singh, Hari Kishan and Y. P. Singh

[15-20] as per the GUM/ISO/IEC: 17025 documents.
2.

Experimental Setup

The following instruments are required to be used

for calibration of RHT Sensor:
1.

Digital indicator (Testo 781) with Quartz

thermometers (dry and wet bulb) and PC adapter

2.

Environmental chamber Gallenkamp Make

(model OVR-403-010L).

3.

Anemometer with probe model AM-4201, make

LT Lutron Sr.No.480014.

4.

Mini/small high-speed fan 4.5" size operated at

220-230 volts ac supply.

5.

Digital pressure indicator, Model Druck DPI-145

6.

Temperature & Humidity Indicator, Make

Indosaw.

7.

Special Relative Humidity Sensor under

calibration with digital multi-meter.

3.

Calibration Procedure

The calibration setup for RH measurements for

computing the RH is based on measuring the dry &
wet bulb temperatures with the help of two matched,
precision quartz thermometers (Model TESTO 781).
These thermometers, having a resolution of 0.001 C,
have been periodically calibrated against the standard
PRT of the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi
and are found to be reproducible within 0.005 C.
The expanded uncertainties of both the thermometers
have been calculated and estimated to be within
0.03 C for the coverage factor, k = 2, at a level of
confidence 95 % approximately. These two quartz
thermometers are supported on stands very near to
each other. One of these is provided with a clean wick,
immersed in distilled water in a Pyrex bottle. A small
fan is placed near to the thermometers blowing air at
a speed of >3 metre/second. The use of new wick
over the wet bulb thermometer ensures the effect on
radiation interchange between the bulbs due to
airflow. An anemometer measures the speed of air.
The entire setup (i.e. the quartz thermometers along
with fan) is then placed inside the Gallenkamp
environmental chamber (Model OVR-403-010L). The
environmental chamber is a stainless steel cabinet
with glazed door. The basic temperature and humidity

control equipment comprises dry and wet bulb contact

thermometers together with an air heater, a boiler, a
fan, window heater, and a spray cooler. This
environmental chamber is being used to generate RH
of different levels while the quartz thermometers carry
out the measurements. The Quartz thermometers and
pressure indicator DPI 145 are hooked on to a suitable
compatible computer, which collects the data every
second/minute of the two thermometers and pressure
sensor in a file.
The RHT sensor is kept very near to the aspirated
psychrometer and the readings of the RHT sensor in
millivolt/volt are recorded manually at a regular
interval of time at the calibration temperature 24 C
1 C. The reference humidity standard (an aspirated
psychrometer as described above) has an expanded
uncertainty of 1% RH at a confidence level
approximately 95 % coverage factor k=2 with normal
probability distribution [14]. Fig. 1 shows the
schematic block diagram of the entire experimental
set-up used for the calibration of RHT sensors/
hygrometers (dial and digital type). A program (in
C++ language) reads the data and computes mean
value of relative humidity (RH) and the standard
uncertainty with the help of the software. The
evaluation of uncertainty is also checked by manual
calculation in order to validate the software used. The
relative humidity of reference standard is evaluated
by using the following psychrometric equations
[11-14].
(%) RH = 100 x [Pd/Psd]

(1)

where
Psd = Saturation vapour pressure of water vapour at
the dry bulb temperature (td)
Pd = Vapour pressure of water vapour at dry bulb
temperature (td)
Pd = Psw - AP (td -tw)

(2)

where
td = dry-bulb temperature (C)
tw = wet-bulb temperature ( C)
(td - tw) = depression (C)
Psw = Saturation vapour pressure of water vapour
at the wet bulb temperature (tw)

116

Calibration of Special Relative Humidity and Temperature (RHT) ......................Measurement

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup for calibration of RHT sensor
A = Psychrometric constant, 0.000666 / C for
moving air
P =

Total atmospheric pressure

Substituting the value of Pd from Eq. (2) in Eq. (1), we

get
(%) RH = 100 x [Psw - AP (td -tw)]/[ Psd ]
4.

(3)

Evaluation of Uncertainty

In our experiment, the uncertainty of measurement

associated with the input estimates is evaluated by
'Type-A' method of evaluation. The Type-A evaluation
of standard uncertainty is performed by the statistical
analysis of a series of observations. The Type-B
evaluation of standard uncertainty is the method of
evaluating the uncertainty by means other than the
statistical analysis of a series of observations. In this
case the evaluation of the standard uncertainty is
based on some other scientific knowledge. The various
sources of uncertainty have been identified and
described in a mathematical model. The mathematical
model has been formed to include the various error
components affecting the measurement and contribute
towards the uncertainty in the calibration. Some of
the components are already included in the
uncertainty due to standard reference RH
Standard.

4.1 Mathematical Model

The following mathematical model is expressed
on the basis of various components of uncertainty for
RH measurement in % for the calibration.
RH(meas) = RH(S) RH
RH = U(RH)

(4)
(5)

U(RH) = k x uc(RH)

(6)

uc(RH) = [u12 RH(S)+ u22 RH(C)+ u32 RH(A)+u42

RH(P)+ u52 RH(D)+u62 RH(R)+u72
RH(RO)+ u82 RH(DVM)+u92 RH(Rep)]
(7)
where
u1 [RH(S)]

= Standard uncertainty component

of Reference Standard Aspirated
psychrometer

u2 [RH(C)]

= Standard Uncertainty due to

environmental Chamber

u3 [RH(A)]

= Standard Uncertainty due to

Anemometer

u4 [RH(P)]

= Standard Uncertainty component

due to Pressure Indicator/Sensor

u5 [RH(D)]

= Standard Uncertainty component

due to Drift of Reference Standard

117

Bhikham Singh, Hari Kishan and Y. P. Singh

u6 [RH(R)]

= Standard Uncertainty component

due to resolution of DUC

Referring to the data in Table 1, calculation of

uncertainty (Type-A) was estimated as;

u7 [RH(RO)]

= Standard Uncertainty component

due to rounding off significant
digit

ua = 0.062272 % RH
4.3 Evaluation of Type 'B' Components of Uncertainty,
(uiB)

u8 [RH(DVM)]= Standard Uncertainty component

due to DVM/DMM used

4.3.1 Uncertainty contribution due to reference

standard (an aspirated psychrometer)

u9 [RH(Rep)] = Standard Uncertainty due to

Standard deviation of the Data on
DUC.

The reference standard is calibrated and traceable

to the national standard of temperature and
pressure. The expanded uncertainty of the
reference standard is 1% RH at approximately
95% confidence level with coverage factor k = 2
for a normal probability distribution. Thus the
standard uncertainty, u1 is obtained by dividing
the expanded uncertainty by coverage factor,
therefore, u1 = 1 % RH/2 = 0.5 % RH, Sensitivity
coefficient c1=1, Degree of freedom, 1 = .

uc(RH) = [f(RH)/xi (RH)] 2ui2(RH)

Sensitivity Coefficients 'c i' = f(RH)/xi (RH) =
(1x 102 %RH/V)
The components of uncertainty due to
anemometer and pressure indicator are included in
the uncertainty contribution of the reference RH
standard.
4.2 Evaluation of Type 'A' Component of Uncertainty
(ua) at 50% RH

4.3.2 Uncertainty contribution due to the stability

and uniformity of the environmental chamber

Besides observations of the reference humidity

standard, we also note down simultaneously the
readings of RHT sensor as shown in the digital multimeter (DMM) display of the special sensor (which is
to be calibrated). Table 1 shows some of the typical
observations of RHT sensor in Volts/milli Volts in
(DMM) under calibration. It is a set of 10 observations.

Based on our measurements of uniformity and

stability inside the humidity oven, the maximum
variation in RH from one corner to the other is
found to be 1.465 % giving a limiting value of
0.7325 % RH. Assuming rectangular probability
distribution, the standard uncertainty, u2 = 0.7325
% /3 0.423 % RH, Sensitivity coefficient,
c2=1,Degree of freedom, 2 = .

Table 1
Observation
S.No.

RH % of
Ref. Std

DUC reading
Vi, in Volts

Deviation from
average in V, (Vi-Vavg)

(Vi-Vavg )2
in volts

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Mean

50.951
50.862
50.861
50.922
50.892
50.928
51.010
50.650
50.314
50.240
50.763 % RH

0.510
0.509
0.507
0.508
0.507
0.507
0.507
0.506
0.505
0.503
Vavg = 0.5069

3.1 x 10-3
2.1 x 10-3
1 x 10-4
1.1 x 10-3
1 x 10-4
1 x 10-4
1 x 10-4
-9 x 10-4
-1.9 x 10-3
-3.9 x 10-3

9.61 x 10-6
4.41 x 10-6
1 x 10-8
1.21 x 10-6
1 x 10-8
1 x 10-8
1 x 10-8
8.1 x 10-7
3.61 x 10-6
1.521 x 10-5
= 3.49 x 10-5

118

Calibration of Special Relative Humidity and Temperature (RHT) ......................Measurement

distribution = 0.07/3 = 0.04041 % RH,
Sensitivity coefficient, c5= 1, Degree of freedom, 5
= , u5=0.04041% RH.

4.3.3 Uncertainty contribution due to the resolution

of the Device Under Calibration
The resolution of RHT sensor in digital multi
meter (DMM) is 0.00001V. This gives a voltage
resolution limit of 5x10 -6 V. Assuming
rectangular probability distribution, the standard
uncertainty u3 is u3 = 5x10-6V /3 = 2.8867513x
10-6 V, Sensitivity coefficient, c3 = 1x 102 %RH/V,
u3 = 2.8867513x10-4 % RH, Degree of freedom,
3 = .

4.4 Combined Standard Uncertainty, uc

The combined uncertainty uc(y) in output estimate
is equal to root sum square (RSS) of all contributions
discussed above
uc 2 = ci2ui2 = 0.6602498 %RH

(8)

4.5 Effective Degree of Freedom

4.3.4 Uncertainty due to drift of the standard RH

Drift caused in the Reference Standard in the years
2004-06 = 0.06686 % RH, standard. Uncertainty
limit = 0.06686/3=0.0386%RH.Assuming
rectangular probability distribution. Sensitivity
coefficient, c4 = 1, Degree of freedom, 4 = , u4
= 0.0386 % RH.
4.3.5 Uncertainty due to rounding off significant digits/
decimal places
Limiting value of RH for significant digits =
0.07. Assuming rectangular probability

The effective degree of freedom (eff) of combined

standard uncertainty is calculated using the well
known Welch-Satterthwaite equation given as
following:
eff

= [uc(RH)]4/[ui(RH)4/i] = 113738

(9)

4.6 Expanded Uncertainty, U

For effective degree of freedom, eff at 95.45%,
level of confidence, the 't' factor from student's 't' table
is 2, so the coverage factor 'k' =2.

Uncertainty Budget
Source of
Uncertainty

Estimated
Value

Std.
Uncertainty

(a)

(b)

Probability
Distribution
Divisor
(c)

50.69 % RH

Normal Type B, 2

0.5

u2 (Hum. Oven)

0.7325

Rectangular Type B, 3

0.423

u3 (Resolution)

5x10-6 V

Rectangular Type B, 3

u4 (Drift)

0.06686

Rectangular Type B, 3

u5 (Round off)

0.07

Rectangular Type B, 3

(ua) Repeatability

0.5069 V

(uc) Combined
Uncertainty

u1 (Ref. Std.)

(U)
Expanded
Uncertainty

50.69 % RH

Sensitivity Uncertainty
Degree
Coefficient Contribution
of
ci
(% RH)
Freedom
(d)
f = (b/c).d

1 x 102 % 2.8867513x10-4
RH /V
1
0.0386
1

Normal Type A, 10
1 x 102%
-3
1.962074 x 10
uc = ui2 = 0.6602498 % RH

eff = 113737
U = uc x k =1.3204996
119

0.04041

0.062272
RH /V
0.6602498

1.32 %RH

Bhikham Singh, Hari Kishan and Y. P. Singh

Calibration Results
S. No.

Value of Ref.
Std. (RH %)

1.
2.
3.

25.25
50.76
95.47

Value measured in RHT

V

RH%

0.2489
0.5069
0.9261

24.89
50.69
92.61

The expanded uncertainty, U

U = kxuc(RH) = 1.32% RH
5.

1.32
1.32
1.32

Acknowledgement
(10)

Results and Discussion

The relative humidity & temperature Sensor

(RHT), which measures the (RH) output in terms of
the electrical potential was calibrated against the
reference RH standard generated in the environmental
chamber. This is an indirect comparison/calibration
of RHT sensor whose output is further evaluated in
RH % using a sensitivity coefficient of 1 x 102% RH /
V. Four numbers of similar sensors have been
compared against the reference RH standard. A case
study has been presented on calibration of one RHT
sensor in the range 25 % RH to 95 % RH. The
measurements have been reported at 25 % RH, 50 %
RH and 95 % RH and associated expanded
uncertainty of calibration has also been evaluated and
expressed under calibration results.

The authors express their sincere gratitude to

Prof. Vikram Kumar, Director of the National Physical
Laboratory, New Delhi for his constant
encouragement. The help provided by Mr. Shiv Dutt
Sharma is greatly acknowledged.
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6.

Expanded Uncertainty of
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Conclusion

The RHT sensor undertaken for calibration was

a special sensor device, which gives an output in the
form of an electrical signal in volt to evaluate the
relative humidity (RH%). The sensor needs a high
stability environmental chamber to produce
effectively stable output voltage of the sensor. The
equipment utilized for comparison of such type of
sensor was found to be significantly useful in the
calibration of specialized humidity sensors. These
devices are used in the measurement of wind energy
evaluation. These are frequently required to be
calibrated against the reference standard of humidity
established at NPL, New Delhi.
120

(Germany)

Private

Calibration of Special Relative Humidity and Temperature (RHT) ......................Measurement

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Hari Kishan, Bhikham Singh, V.P. Wasan, R.S.

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121