Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Hygrometer (Micro Weather Station)

Water vapor plays a major role in Earth's atmosphere, controlling to a large extent weather and climate, participating in atmospheric chemistry (including reactions involving ozone), and acting as the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Lack of knowledge of the global distribution of water vapor has been cited as the major limitation to weather and climate forecasting.

Existing routine measurements in the upper atmosphere are not sufficiently accurate to monitor global trends that might result from man-made or natural modifications to the climate system. Improved data in this critical region of the atmosphere are a high priority. The SAW hygrometer measures the amount of water in the atmosphere by detecting condensation on the surface of a highly-sensitive quartz oscillator.

In flights on the NASA DC8 experimental aircraft, the SAW hygrometer was shown to be more than ten times faster than conventional hygrometers in detecting humidity changes in the atmosphere.

Read More About It:

http://csmt.jpl.nasa.gov/csmtpages/Technologies/Weather/weather.html

http://csmt.jpl.nasa.gov/