Campbell Scientific CNR4 Net Radiometer User Manual
Page 23

CNR4 Net Radiometer
TABLE 7-1. Resistance values versus CNR4’s thermistor temperature in °C.
Temperature
[
°C]
Resistance
[
Ω]
Temperature
[
°C]
Resistance
[
Ω]
Temperature
[
°C]
Resistance
[
Ω]
–13 
–12 
–11 
–10 
–9 
–8 
–7 
–6 
–5 
–4 
–3 
–2 
–1 
55170 
52480 
49940 
47540 
45270 
43110 
41070 
39140 
37310 
35570 
33930 
32370 
30890 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
13900 
13330 
12790 
12260 
11770 
11290 
10840 
10410 
10000 
9605 
9227 
8867 
8523 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
4331 
4179 
4033 
3893 
3758 
3629 
3504 
3385 
3270 
3160 
3054 
2952 
2854 
Relatively small errors occur when the CNR4 is not in thermal equilibrium. 
This happens for example when the heater is on, or when the sun is shining. 
When the heater and ventilator are on, the largest expected deviation between 
the real sensor temperature and the thermistor reading is 1 degree. This results 
in a worst case error for the pyrgeometer of 5 W/m
2
. When the sun is shining,
the largest expected deviation between the real sensor temperature and the 
thermistor reading is again 1 degree. This results in a worst case error for the 
pyrgeometer of 5 W/m
2
.
The thermistor will not give a good indication of ambient air temperature; at 
1000 W/m
2
solar radiation, and no wind, the instrument temperature will rise
approximately 5 degrees above the ambient temperature.
The offsets of both the pyranometers and the pyrgeometers might be larger 
than 5 W/m
2
if large temperature gradients are forced on the instrument (larger
than 5 K/hr); for example, when rain hits the instrument. This occurrence can 
be detected using the thermistor readout, and can be used for data filtering. 
The thermistor measurement is calculated by the datalogger, using the Half-
Bridge Measurement instruction, which requires one voltage excitation and 
one single-ended analog channel. 
Alternatively, you can use the Pt-100 to make the temperature measurement. 
In order to make the temperature measurement, using the Pt-100 sensor, you 
will need one current excitation channel, and one differential analog channel. 
TABLE 7–2 shows the Pt-100 resistance values as a function of temperature. 
Please refer to Appendix C, CR3000 Program for Measuring Pt-100 
Temperature Sensor, for a sample program to measure Pt-100. 
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