A METROLOGICAL TEMPERATURE SENSOR NETWORK FOR OPTIMIZING LONG DISTANCE MEASUREMENTS2 MB

As part of the digital transformation the usage of sensor networks is rapidly increasing. Metrological applications at the NMI level can benefit from this new technology as well. In this manuscript we report on a sensor network that was installed in VSL’s length laboratory to measure in more detail the ambient temperature profile as required for measuring long distances by an interferometric application. The measurement results of the sensor network were compared with the results from the 5 sensors that have been used until now. An offset in the mean temperature of about 0.2 ◦C was found, which was just about the maximum allowed bias in view of the claimed uncertainty for the distance measurement. At a more general level, it was concluded that such sensor networks provide a useful new tool to increase the understanding of other measurements, to validate assumptions and possibly optimize existing measurements.