Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sensors Principles of Radiation Measurement
Sensors Principles of Radiation Measurement
Radiation Measurement
This report presents a comprehensive summary of the terminology and units used in
radiometry, photometry, and the measurement of photosynthetically active radiation
(PAR). Measurement errors can arise from a number of sources, and these are
explained in detail. Finally, the conversion of radiometric and photometric units to
photon units is discussed. In this report, the International System of Units (SI) is used
unless noted otherwise.9
Terminology
0.50
LI-COR continues to follow the lead of the Crop Science
Society of America, Committee on Terminology10 and
other societies11 until international committees put forth 0.25
U LT R AV I O L E T
further recommendations.
INFR ARED
YELLOW
VIOLET
GREEN
BLUE
RED
0.00
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) is defined 300 400 500 600 700 800
Wavelength (nm)
as radiation in the 400 to 700 nm waveband. PAR is the
general radiation term which covers both photon terms7 Figure 1. Typical LI-190R quantum response and
and energy terms. the ideal quantum response displayed in energy
units.
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD) is defined
as the photon flux density of PAR, also referred to as
120
Quantum Flux Density. This is the number of photons Ideal
Quantum
in the 400–700 nm waveband incident per unit time on 100
Response
INFR ARED
YELLOW
µE s-1 m-2 ≡ 6.022 x 1017 photons s-1 m-2.
VIOLET
GREEN
BLUE
RED
0
300 400 500 600 700 800
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Fluence Rate (PPFFR). Wavelength (nm)
0.50
measurement accuracy. Where it is necessary to use a
transfer sensor (such as for solar calibrations) additional
0.25
error will be introduced. LI-COR quantum and photo-
metric sensors are calibrated against a working quartz
0.0
400 500
Wavelength (nm)
600 700
halogen lamp. These working quartz halogen lamps
have been calibrated against laboratory standards
Figure 4. Typical spectral response of LI-COR traceable to the National Institute of Standards and
photometric sensors. This response is very close Technology (NIST). Standard lamp current is metered
to the CIE photopic curve. to 0.035% accuracy. Microscope and laser alignment
in the calibration setup reduce alignment errors to less
than 0.1%. Stray light is reduced by black velvet to less
than 0.1%. The absolute calibration accuracy is limited
Terminology and Units4 to the uncertainty of the NIST traceable standard lamp.
Luminous Flux is the amount of radiation coming from The absolute calibration specification for LI-COR
a source per unit time, evaluated in terms of a standard- sensors is ± 5% traceable to the NIST.
ized visual response. Unit: lumen, lm.
Relative Error (Spectral Response Error)
Luminous Intensity is the luminous flux per unit solid
angle in the direction in question. Unit: candela, cd. One This error is also called actinity error or spectral correc-
candela is one lm sr -1. tion error. This error is due to the spectral response of
the sensor not conforming to the ideal spectral
Luminance is the quotient of the luminous flux at an response. This error occurs when measuring radiation
element of the surface surrounding the point and prop- from any source which is spectrally different than the
agated in directions defined by an elementary cone calibration source.
0.25
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Wavelength (nm)
chambers, greenhouses, and plant canopies. Under Figure 6. LI-COR sensor creating the proper cosine
- response at various angles of incidence.
nometer should be used.
6 | Principles of Radiation
LI-COR sensors incorporate only silicon detectors a greater ratio of indices of refraction than the water-dif-
which exhibit no fatigue error. fuser interface. LI-COR provides a typical immersion
effect correction factor for the underwater sensors.
Temperature Coefficient Error Immersion effect error is the difference between this
typical figure and the actual figure for a given sensor in
Temperature coefficient error exists when the output of a particular environment. Since LI-COR test measure-
a sensor changes with a constant input. This error is ments are done in clear water, the error is also
typically less than ± 0.1% per °C for the LI-190R, dependent on other variables such as turbidity, salinity,
LI-191R, LI-192SA, LI-193SA, and LI-210R sensors. This etc. Immersion effect error is typically ± 2% or less. A
error is slightly higher for the LI-200R. complete report on the immersion effect properties of
LI-COR underwater sensors is available from LI-COR.
Response Time Error
Surface Variation Error
This error exists when the source being measured
changes rapidly during the period of measurement. In general, the absolute responsivity and the relative
spectral responsivity are not constant over the radia-
Averaging: tion-sensitive surface of sensors. This error has little
effect in environmental measurements except for spatial
Large errors can exist when measuring radiation under averaging sensors such as the LI-191R. This error is
rapidly changing conditions such as changing cloud < ± 7% for the LI-191R.
cover and wind if measuring within a crop canopy, and
waves if measuring underwater. The use of an integrat-
ing meter to average the reading will eliminate this error.
User Errors
Long-Term Stability Error The LI-191R Line Quantum Sensor, which spatially aver-
ages radiation over its one meter length, minimizes this
This error exists when the calibration of a sensor changes error and allows one person to easily make many mea-
with time. This error is usually low for sensors using high surements in a short period of time. Another method,
quality silicon photovoltaic photodiodes and glass filters. although not as accurate, is to use an integrating meter
LI-COR uses only high quality components. The use of and the LI-190R Quantum Sensor and physically scan
Wratten filters and/or inexpensive silicon or selenium the sensor by hand within the canopy while integrating
cells add significantly to long-term stability error. the output with the meter.
Important: Customers should have their sensors Another type of spatial user error can be caused by
recalibrated every two years. misapplication of a cosine-corrected sensor where a
spherical sensor would give a more accurate measure-
ment. An example is in underwater photosynthetic radi-
Immersion Effect Error
ation measurements when studying phytoplankton.
A sensor with a diffuser for cosine correction will have
an immersion effect when used under water. Radiation
entering the diffuser scatters in all directions within the
diffuser, with more radiation lost through the water-
diffuser interface than in the case when the sensor is
in the air. This is because the air-diffuser interface offers
This is the integral which is measured by the sensor. If 6. Sum the products determined in Step 5 to find ∑ λ i N λ
i
i
R is the reading of the quantum sensor in µmol s-1 m-2
7. Use Eq. (7) to find W T in W m , where R is the -2
(1 µmol s-1 m-2 ≡ 6.022 • 1017 photons s-1 m-2), then:
quantum sensor output in μmol s-1 m-2.
700 Wλ The following approximation assumes a flat spectral
6.022 ×1017 (R) = ∫ dλ (4)
400 hc/λ distribution curve of the source over the 400–700 nm
range (equal spectral irradiance over the 400–700 nm
Combining Eq. (1) and Eq. (4) gives range) and is shown as an example.
700 Given:
∫ Wλ dλ
WT = 6.022 ×1017 (Rhc) 400 (5)
700 i=1
∫400 λWλ dλ
Δλ = 300 nm
To achieve the two integrals, discrete summations are
necessary. Also, since Wλ appears in both the numer- λi = 550 nm
ator and the denominator, the normalized curve N λ may
⎛ N(550) ⎞ 119.8 (R)
= 0.22 (R) W m -2
be substituted for it.
WT ≈ 119.8 (R)⎜ ⎟=
⎝ 550 × N(550) ⎠ 550
Given:
700
Lux = 683∫ y λ Wλ d λ
400 i = 1 to 31
700
λWλ d λ ∑ yλi
∫ 400 Lux = 8.17 ×10 4 (R) i
= 8.17 ×10 4 (R) ⎛
10.682 ⎞
∑ λi ⎝ 17050 ⎠
c) Replace Eq. (6) with i
∑ y λ N λ Δλ
i i
Lux = 51.2 R, where R is in μmol s-1 m-2
Lux = 683 (6.022 ×1017 ) (Rhc) i
∑ λiN λ Δλ i
Or,
i
1000 lux = 1 klux = 19.5 μmol s-1 m-2
d) Replace Eq. (7) with
∑ yλ Nλ i i
4
Lux = 8.17 ×10 (R) i
∑ λ Nλ i
i
2. Combs, W.S., Jr., 1977. The measurement 8. McCree, K.J. 1981. Photosynthetically active
and prediction of irradiances available for radiation. In: Physiological plant ecology. Lang,
photosynthesis by phytoplankton in lakes. Ph.D. O.L., P. Novel, B. Osmond and H. Ziegler (ed).
Thesis, Univ. of Minnesota, Limnology. Vol. 12A, Encyclopedia of plant physiology (new
series). Springer-Verlag. Berlin, Heidelberg, New
3. Flowers, E.C. 1978. Comparison of solar radiation York.
sensors from various manufacturers. In: 1978
annual report from NOAA to the DOE. 9. Page, C.H. and P. Vigoureux (ed). 1977. The
international system of units (SI). Nat. Bur. of
4. Illuminating Engineering Society of North Stand. Special Publ. 330, 3rd edition. U.S. Govt.
America. 1981. Nomenclature and definitions Printing Office, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
for illuminating engineering. Publication RP-16,
ANSI/IES RP-116-1980. New York. 10. Shibles, R. 1976. Committee Report. Terminology
pertaining to photosynthesis. Crop Sci. 16:437–439.
5. Incoll, L.D., S.P. Long and M.A. Ashmore. 1981.
SI units in publications in plant science. In: 11. Thimijan, R.W., and R.D. Heins. 1983.
Commentaries in Plant Sci. Vol. 2, pp. 83–96, Photometric, radiometric, and quantum light
Pergamon, Oxford. units of measure: a review of procedures for
interconversion. HortScience 18:818–822.
6. Kondratyev, K. Ya. 1969. Direct solar radiation.
In: Radiation in the atmosphere. Academic Press,
New York, London.
Your comments on the subjects addressed in this Excerpted from: Advanced Agricultural Instrumentation. Proceed-
report or any other measurement problems are always ings from the NATO Advanced Study Institute on “Advanced
Agricultural Instrumentation”, 1984. W.G. Gensler (ed.), Martinus
welcome and will be treated as valuable inputs.
Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
- William W. Biggs, Author
Regional Offices
LI-COR GmbH, Germany
Serving Andorra, Albania, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Iceland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Malta, Moldova, Monaco,
San Marino, Ukraine, and Vatican City.
LI-COR Biosciences GmbH
Siemensstraße 25A
61352 Bad Homburg
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 6172 17 17 771
Fax: +49 (0) 6172 17 17 799
envsales-gmbh@licor.com
envsupport-gmbh@licor.com
LI-COR is an ISO 9001 registered company. © 2015 LI-COR,
LI-COR Ltd., United Kingdom
Inc. Specifications subject to change. LI-COR is a registered
Serving Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and UK. trademark of LI-COR, Inc. in the United States and other coun-
LI-COR Biosciences UK Ltd. tries. For patent information, visit www.licor.com/patents.
St. John’s Innovation Centre
The LI-COR board of directors would like to take this opportu-
Cowley Road nity to return thanks to God for His merciful providence in
Cambridge allowing LI-COR to develop and commercialize products,
CB4 0WS through the collective effort of dedicated employees, that
United Kingdom enable the examination of the wonders of His works. “Trust in
Phone: +44 (0) 1223 422102 the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 422105 make your paths straight.” —Proverbs 3:5,6
envsales-UK@licor.com
envsupport-UK@licor.com P/N 980-15606 8/15 2nd Edition