Data logging is a means of collecting and storing data. The data stored on a datalogger is temporary and will be lost the next time it is used. For that reason, the data is downloaded to a computer as a file so that it can be permanently stored and processed. Processing of data from a data logger is often done using a spreadsheet as that is software that can easily produce a graph or other chart from a table of numbers. Graphs and charts can help people make sense of a series of numbers more easily. Data loggers obtain their data from sensors. There are a large range of different ones that... Show more

Data logging is a means of collecting and storing data. The data stored on a datalogger is temporary and will be lost the next time it is used. For that reason, the data is downloaded to a computer as a file so that it can be permanently stored and processed. Processing of data from a data logger is often done using a spreadsheet as that is software that can easily produce a graph or other chart from a table of numbers. Graphs and charts can help people make sense of a series of numbers more easily.

Data loggers obtain their data from sensors. There are a large range of different ones that can record many changes in the environment - temperature, humidity, light level and so forth. Sensors are designed to convert the information about the environment into electrical signals which can be stored as data. They work automatically, that is to say, once they have been programmed by a person, they can be left in the environment for long periods of time without the need for anyone to be there.

A data logger is an electronic device that records data over time or in relation to location either with a built in instrument or sensor, or via external instruments and sensors. The time between the moments that the data logger records the data it is collecting is called the logging interval. The logging interval varies and depends on what data you want to collect and the purpose for which it is collected. An example of this would be measuring the temperature changes in an environment over the course of a day. Taking readings every second would result in a lot of data. Taking readings once every hour would not give a smooth curve. Also, if one reading was somehow inaccurate, it would have a greater effect on the results. Taking a reading every ten minutes would therefore be more suitable.

Data logging has several important advantages.

If the logging period is long, a datalogger will not lose concentration, unlike a person. It will reliably take a reading at the exact moment it is supposed to, a person may be a little in advance or late. When the logging interval is very short, e.g. one tenth of a second, it would be impossible for a person to note the results. With a data logger, that is not a problem.

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