A method for calibrating forward scatter meters indoors

Abstract In this study, we developed a method for calibrating forward scatter meters (FSMs) against transmissometers for measuring visibility under laboratory conditions, and we designed and constructed a novel fog chamber for calibrating FSMs indoors. The fog chamber was used to simulate a controlled visibility environment, and a transmissometer was installed on both ends of the fog chamber as the standard. The developed method involved a comparison of the FSMs and transmissometer in a group of fog events. FSMs were installed on both sides of the optical path between the transmitter and receiver of the transmissometer. The chamber door was closed, and, after creating fog to simulate low-visibility conditions, measurements were collected from the FSMs and transmissometer every minute while the fog dissipated very slowly. The measurement errors of the FSM could then be calculated. To evaluate this method, tests were conducted in the fog chamber, and the results show that the fog chamber could simulate visibility from 10 m to 10 000 m, while the FSMs could only be calibrated below a visibility of 1500 m due to the baseline of the transmissometer. The fog homogeneity was controlled within 1.2% or less, and the stability was limited to 5% per 30 min. These parameters are reasonably homogeneous and stable for FSM—transmissometer comparison. Three PWD22 FSMs were calibrated using this method, and the calibration uncertainties were estimated to be in the range of 7.8% to 9.2%.