The invention relates to a method for operating an air flow meter for identifying an air mass flow supplied to an internal combustion engine, wherein the air flow meter has a sensor element, having a micro-electromechanical design, which has a heating element, wherein a first thermocouple is arranged upstream on the sensor element, relative to the heating element, and a second thermocouple is arranged downstream, relative to the heating element. In order to resolve, or at least greatly restrict falsification of the measurement results due to contamination of the sensor element, the following method steps are carried out according to the invention: A: Identifying a first measurement value for the absolute temperature of the second thermocouple of the air flow meter, B: Storing the first measurement value for the absolute temperature of the second thermocouple of the air flow meter in an electronic memory, C: Operating of the internal combustion engine and identifying the air mass flow supplied to the internal combustion engine by means of the air flow meter, D: Identifying a second measurement value for the absolute temperature of the second thermocouple of the air flow meter after operating the internal combustion engine, E: Comparing the first measurement value for the absolute temperature of the second thermocouple to the second measurement value for the absolute temperature of the second thermocouple, F: Correcting the offset of the characteristic curve of the sensor element upon determining a deviation between the first measurement value and the second measurement value.
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