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A weather balloon, also known as a sounding balloon, is a balloon (specifically a type of high-altitude balloon) that carries instruments to the stratosphere to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde.
The BLAST high-altitude balloon just before launch on June 12, 2005. High-altitude balloons or stratostats are usually uncrewed balloons typically filled with helium or hydrogen and released into the stratosphere, generally attaining between 18 and 37 km (11 and 23 mi; 59,000 and 121,000 ft) above sea level.
Balloon sizes can range from 100 to 3,000 g (3.5 to 105.8 oz). As the balloon ascends through the atmosphere, the pressure decreases, causing the balloon to expand. Eventually, the balloon will expand to the extent that its skin will break, terminating the ascent. An 800 g (28 oz) balloon will burst at about 21 km (13 mi). [16]
Rain and wet snow may slow the ascent of the balloon, giving a falsely high ceiling and high winds and poor visibility may cause the balloon to appear to enter the cloud before it actually does. As the balloon rises at a rate of 140 m/min (460 ft/min) it will take over five minutes for the balloon to reach 700 m (2300 ft).
The principle behind the ceiling balloon is a balloon with a known ascent rate (how fast it climbs) and determining how long the balloon rises until it disappears into the cloud. Ascent rate times ascent time yields the ceiling height. A disdrometer is an instrument used to measure the drop size distribution and velocity of falling hydrometeors.
Also pilot balloon or pibal. A type of weather balloon used by meteorologists to determine the height of the cloud base above ground level during daylight hours by measuring the time it takes for the balloon, released from the ground and rising at a known rate of ascent, to begin to disappear into the clouds. ceiling projector
Ascent of a weather balloon launched from the Polarstern research vessel. Radiosondes are particularly important for collocation studies because they measure atmospheric variables more accurately and more directly than satellite or other remote-sensing instruments. In addition, radiosonde samples are effectively instantaneous point measurements.
A weather balloon launched on November 18, 2024 as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Monitoring Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The balloon will test changes in ...