Toward a Standard Thermistor Calibration Method: Data Correction Spreadsheets

Temperature is one of the most frequently measured physical phenomena in environmental research. Many laboratory and field investigations of temperature use commercially available temperature loggers that come from the manufacturer precalibrated. After-market calibration of temperature loggers provides more confidence in measured data. This paper proposes a general method for calibrating temperature loggers in order to obtain consistent, high-quality data. A procedure and derivation of equations for performing logger calibration is presented. Spreadsheets are described for calculating correction coefficients and adjusting proxy data to a reference temperature. A temperature logger calibration example demonstrates the importance of instrument calibration and the improvement in accuracy. The procedure and spreadsheets presented here can be used for calibration and correction of data from any type of thermistor.