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Instrumentation for Water Vapor Measurements for Radiosondes

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Energy 		Branch:
N/A 		Award ID:
41865 		Program Year/Program:
1998 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
41865 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N/A 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
Yankee Environmental Systems, Inc.
101 Industrial Blvd. Turners Falls, MA -
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 1998
Title: Instrumentation for Water Vapor Measurements for Radiosondes
Agency: DOE
Contract: N/A
Award Amount: $75,000.00
 

Abstract:

51137-98-I Instrumentation for Water Vapor Measurements for Radiosondes--Yankee Environmental Systems, Inc., 101 Industrial Boulevard, Turners Falls, MA 01376-1608; (413) 863-0200 Mr. William M. Stein, Principal Investigator Ms. Cynthia A. Cote, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82715 Amount: $75,000 Current sensors for measuring humidity on weather balloons are generally considered inadequate for supporting vital climate research efforts. This project will investigate a new water vapor sensor suitable for use on balloon-borne radiosondes. The proposed approach corrects several deficiencies found in current balloon-borne water vapor sensors, including inadequate accuracy, limited temperature operating range, and slow speed of response at low temperatures. The approach couples a servo loop system to a standard humidity sensor. By controlling the temperature of the sensor in relation to ambient humidity, the sensor can be forced to operate at a constant humidity. This means that water vapor no longer needs to migrate in and out of the sensor, dramatically improving the sensor response time. Phase I will bench test several candidate sensors in the servo configuration. The bench tests involve four main tasks: 1) building several prototype assemblies with a heat sink, thermoelectric (Peltier) device, and sensor, 2) prototyping the control electronics, 3) chamber testing the sensor assemblies over a wide range of temperatures and humidities, and 4) analyzing and reporting the results. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The atmospheric physicist should have a greatly improved sensor for water vapor measurement. In addition, many industrial processes require monitoring of water vapor in the form of dew/frost point or relative humidity, resulting in a large number of potential commercial applications._

Principal Investigator:

Mr. William M. Stein
Design Engineer
4138630200

Business Contact:

Ms. Cynthia A. Cote
Account Manager
4138630200
Small Business Information at Submission:

Yankee Environmental Systems,
101 Industrial Blvd Turners Fa, MA 01376

EIN/Tax ID:
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees: N/A
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No