Precision Measurement of Target Mass in the Antineutrino Detectors of the Daya Bay Reactor $\theta_{13}$ Experiment

Of the parameters within the neutrino mixing matrix, the reactor neutrino experiment at Daya Bay seeks to determine the yet unknown neutrino mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ to a sensitivity of 0.01 or better in sin$^22\theta_{13}$. The experiment utilizes the inverse beta-decay reaction of electron antineutrinos on protons to measure the flux of reactor antineutrinos at different distances from the reactors and measure the disappearance of $\overline{\nu}_{e}$. In the experiment it is important to measure the target mass to a high degree of accuracy to determine the number of free protons in the detector target. My work focuses on evaluating sensors for a high-precision measurement of the target mass in the Daya Bay antineutrino detectors to $<$ 0.1\%. The resolution and long-term stability of ultrasonic and capacitance sensors have been characterized and found to meet the precision requirements of the experiment.