Technical guide
Weather Station Calibration and Accuracy
What the accuracy figures on a weather station datasheet mean, what field calibration can and cannot fix, and how UCTECH validates a design.
Read the tolerance with the range
A specification like "outdoor temperature -40 °C to +60 °C, accuracy ±0.3 °C" is two statements. The range says where the sensor still functions; the tolerance says how close the reading is inside that range. Quoting one without the other is a marketing habit, not a specification.
Different parameters have very different tolerances
On a typical full weather station, temperature might be ±0.3 °C, outdoor humidity ±3%, pressure ±3 hPa, wind direction ±10°, light ±15%, and wind speed quoted in two bands — ±0.3 m/s from 2 to 10 m/s, then ±10% above it. That spread is normal and it tells you which numbers to trust for decisions. Wind direction to ±10° is a wind rose, not a vector.
What field calibration fixes
Our consoles allow manual calibration of indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, rainfall and light. That corrects an offset — a unit reading two points high against your reference. It does not correct non-linearity, it does not repair a damaged element, and it does not turn a ±5% instrument into a ±1% one.
What the factory does instead
Design validation happens on equipment: constant temperature and humidity chambers for the measuring elements, rainfall and waterproof rigs for the outdoor housings, smog aging and vibration equipment for life and transport. Our measuring equipment is itself calibrated by an external laboratory. Every unit is aged before packing, which is a reliability step rather than an accuracy one.
Comparing two instruments
Two weather stations side by side will disagree, and that is not automatically a fault. Put them at the same height, in the same exposure, away from walls, and give them an hour to settle before concluding anything. Most "faulty unit" reports resolve at that step.
Related reading
Uploading Weather Data to Weather Underground and WeatherCloud
How a Wi-Fi console gets its readings online, what the customer needs, and where installations usually go wrong.
How Ultrasonic Tank Level Measurement Works
Time-of-flight level sensing for water tanks, what affects the reading, and when a multi-channel console is the right shape.
A Sourcing Checklist for OEM Weather Stations
The questions that separate a factory from a trading desk, and the specification points worth pinning before a sample order.
Specifying a weather instrument?
We publish the range and the tolerance for every model. Send your parameter list and we will name the models that meet it.