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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mississippi State, Mississippi » Poultry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #203531
Title: Construction of a Low Cost Globe Thermometer

Author
item Purswell, Joseph - Jody
item DAVIS, JEREMIAH - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2007
Publication Date: 5/1/2008
Citation: Purswell, J.L., Davis, J.D. 2008. Construction of a Low Cost Globe Thermometer. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 24(3):379-381.

Interpretive Summary: Costs associated with data acquisition equipment limit the number of measurement locations and reduce spatial resolution in field studies. An economical self-contained globe thermometer was developed for use in field applications. The instrument performed as well as systems currently in use and can be fabricated at a much lower cost, reducing costs as much as 87%. This tool will allow researchers to improve spatial resolution of measurement points while maintaining accuracy and precision of globe temperature measurements.

Technical Abstract: An economical self-contained globe thermometer was developed for use in field applications. The instrument uses a miniature integral temperature sensor and datalogger in the place of a separate sensor and external datalogger. The performance of the miniature sensor/logger units was shown to be satisfactory for use in globe thermometers. Calibration of the units showed linear behavior with standard errors ranging from 0.02 to 0.04 °C. The integral sensor/logger performed as well as the thermistor/external logger combination and can be fabricated at a much lower cost.