Humidity sensors are among the most commonly used instruments in environmental monitoring applications. Why? Because they are one of the most important measurements to get right when looking to create comfortable, safe, and energy efficient environments. For example, humidity sensors are most often used in industries such as HVAC, biomedical, food processing, pharmaceuticals, meteorology, microelectronics, agriculture, and structural health monitoring. Let’s quickly look at the development of the modern humidity sensor, paying attention to how and why the instruments are so important - and howVaisala’s HUMICAP^®解决方案可以帮助您。

现代湿度传感器 - Vaisala的进化

湿度定义为空气中的水蒸气。最常用的术语是“相对湿度”（RH），因为该数量相对于温度。在整个相对湿度测量的历史中，该任务有许多方法。早期的湿度计将测量会吸收水蒸气的不同材料的物理变化，例如动物头发和纸线圈。这些方法被证明是不准确的，测量范围有限，维护要求很高。

然后开发了计算相对湿度的其他方法，如今仍使用一些方法，例如吊带精神计和冰冷的镜面湿度计。这些方法使用蒸发和凝结来间接测量和计算湿度水平，但并不总是理想的。随着对天气和研究应用中更准确和全范围的相对湿度测量的需求增长，需要更准确，更低的维护解决方案。

After the invention of the transistor, the first electrical humidity sensors were then developed. These sensors were based on measuring electrical resistance, where a material would absorb water vapor and their resistance changed accordingly. These sensors also had their drawbacks, such as poor stability, limited accuracy, and difficulty responding to decreasing humidity levels, also known as hysteresis.

To address these shortcomings, and to provide more reliability to weather observation technology, Vaisala developed the world’s first thin-film polymer-based电容湿度传感器1973年。

湿度传感器如何工作

现代电容湿度传感器由一个聚合物组成，该聚合物与空气中的水蒸气以及两个电极反应，一个电极在聚合物的每一侧。随着空气中的湿度的变化，聚合物将吸收并释放水蒸气，从而改变传感器的电容。电容的变化用两个电极测量，该电极被传达给解释和传输读数的设备。从长远来看，这种类型的传感器已被证明是非常可靠地可靠的。

通过腐殖质监视湿度^®传感器

Vaisala湿度传感器被称为腐殖质，能够以高稳定性和快速响应时间来测量整个相对湿度范围。这项技术使天气气球能够应对迅速变化的大气条件，从而更好地了解了世界的天气，并提高了我们进行气象预测的能力。

多年来，VAISALA HUMICAP湿度传感器在行业，生命科学和其他应用中发现了更多的用途，在这些应用中，湿度测量改善了质量和舒适性。结合高质量的温度传感器，现代的湿度计可以计算出许多有用的基于湿度的变量，例如露点，焓，绝对湿度和百万分（ppm）。

Combined with a transmitter or meter, theVaisalaHUMICAP humidity sensors可以将他们的测量数据传递给需要它来做出重要决策的人员和系统。从手持式湿度计到工业级探针和发射器，在很少有环境中，精确的湿度测量尚未用于改善条件或过程。

The modern polymer-based capacitive humidity sensors have become the standard in monitoring devices around the world, and the Vaisala HUMICAP sensors have set the performance benchmark for the technology. While there are many imitations and adaptations on the market, the HUMICAP technology continues to evolve and improve, providing the highest quality measurement data available.

Different types of humidity instruments

腐殖质技术已改编成各种各样的乐器。今天最常见的是indoor sensors for HVAC applications，尽管它起源于气候气球。这些传感器可以安装在墙壁上，管道工作和冰箱中。室外传感器也很常见，因为它们用于气象站和飞机上以检测结冰条件。

专门的传感器也已经发展为在非常具有挑战性的环境中，例如烤箱，环境测试室和高压管道。还对不同的湿度传感器进行了调整，以测量油中的溶解水，这有助于保护我们的能源基础设施。

Further adaptation has allowed the development of low-humidity, dew point measurement devices for pneumatics and breathing air.The Vaisala DRYCAP^®Sensor建立在Humicap技术的基础上，为超干燥应用提供测量。

Ultimately, there are few areas of the world economy where humidity is not measured or considered, and the Vaisala HUMICAP humidity sensor technology provides the high quality, reliable and accurate information that we rely on to improve processes and make informed decisions.

有关更多信息，请下载Vaisala湿度e Guide或者contact us。