Mittausväli

Mittausväli, in Finnish, is the time interval between successive measurements in a measurement system or data-logging setup. It is commonly expressed in seconds, milliseconds, minutes, or hours, and is the reciprocal of the sampling frequency (mittausnopeus): f_s = 1/T, where T denotes the mittausväli.

This interval sets the temporal resolution of collected data. A shorter mittausväli provides finer resolution and more data, but increases data volume, processing load, and power consumption. A longer mittausväli reduces these demands but risks missing rapid changes and, if the signal contains frequencies above 1/(2T), can cause aliasing according to the Nyquist criterion.

Choosing an appropriate mittausväli depends on the dynamics of the measured phenomenon, the required update rate, sensor response time, and practical constraints such as storage, bandwidth, and energy. For slowly varying quantities, sampling intervals of tens of seconds or minutes may suffice; for fast processes, intervals in milliseconds or microseconds may be necessary.

In practice, practitioners assess the signal bandwidth, desired accuracy, and synchronization needs across channels. In metrology and process control, standardized mittausväli values support data comparability and traceability.

See also: sampling interval, sampling rate, Nyquist criterion, data logging, time series analysis.