Radiosonde
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Radiosonde being prepared for launch
Radiosonde being prepared for launch

A radiosonde (Sonde is French for probe) is a unit for use in weather balloons that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them to a fixed receiver. Radiosondes may operate at a radio frequency of 403 MHz or 1680 MHz and both types may be adjusted slightly higher or lower as required. A rawinsonde is a radiosonde that is designed to also measure wind speed and direction. Colloquially, rawinsondes are usually referred to as radiosondes.

In 1924, Colonel William Blaire in the U.S. Signal Corps did the first primitive experiments with weather measurements from balloon, making use of the temperature dependence of radio circuits. The first true radiosonde that sent precise encoded telemetry from weather sensors was invented in France by Robert Bureau. Bureau coined the name "radiosonde" and flew the first instrument on January 7, 1929. Developed independantly a year later, Pavel Molchanov flew a radiosonde on January 30, 1930. Molchanov's design became a popular standard because of its simplicity and because it converted sensor readings to Morse code, making it particularly easy to use without special equipment or training.[1]

Working with a modified Molchanov sonde, Sergey Vernov was the first to use radiosondes to perform cosmic ray readings at high altitude. On April 1, 1935, he took measurements up to 13.6 kilometers using a pair of geiger counters in an anti-coincidence circuit to avoid counting secondary ray showers.[2][3] This became an important technique in the field, and Vernov flew his radiosondes on land and sea over the next few years, measuring the radiation's latitude dependence caused by the Earth's magnetic field.

Modern radiosondes measure or calculate the following variables:

Radiosondes measuring ozone concentration are known as ozonesondes.

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Operation

A rubber or latex balloon filled with either helium or hydrogen lifts the device up through the atmosphere. The maximum altitude to which the balloon ascends is determined by the diameter and thickness of the balloon. Balloon sizes can range from 150 grams to 3000 grams. 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 gram balloon will burst at about 21 kilometres (69,000 ft).[4]

The modern radiosonde communicates via radio with a computer that stores all the variables in real-time. The first rawinsondes were observed from the ground with a theodolite, and gave only a wind estimation by the position. with the advent of radar by the Signal Corps (United States Army) it was possible to track the balloons with the SCR-658 radar. Modern radiosondes can use a variety of mechanisms for determining wind speed and direction, such as Loran, radio direction finder, GPS and (in Canada only) Very low frequency. The weight of a radiosonde is typically 250 grams. It should also be noted that the average radiosonde is lost and never recovered however for the more expensive instrument packages balloon bourne unmanned gliders (or UAV's) are used to ensure recovery.

Sometimes radiosondes are deployed by being dropped from an aircraft instead of being carried aloft by a balloon. Radiosondes deployed in this way are called dropsondes. They are most often used in special research projects, such as when it is desired to obtain a profile through a specific feature of a storm.

Routine radiosonde launches

Worldwide there are more than 800 radiosonde launch sites. Most countries share data with the rest of the world through international agreements. Nearly all routine radiosonde launches occur at 0000 UTC and 1200 UTC to provide an instantaneous snapshot of the atmosphere. This is especially important for numerical modeling. In the United States the National Weather Service is tasked with providing timely upper-air observations for use in weather forecasting, severe weather watches and warnings, and atmospheric research. The National Weather Service launches radiosondes from 92 stations in North America and the Pacific Islands twice daily. It also supports the operation of 10 radiosonde sites in the Caribbean.

A list of U.S. operated land based launch sites can be found in Appendix C, U.S. Land-based Rawinsode Stations[1] of the Federal Meteorological Handbook #3[2], titled Rawisonde and Pibal Observations, dated May 1997.

Uses of upper air observations

Raw upper air data is routinely ingested by numerical models. Forecasters often view the data in a graphical format, plotted on thermodynamic diagrams such as Skew-T log-P diagrams, Tephigrams, and or Stüve diagrams, all useful for the interpretation of the atmosphere's vertical thermodynamics profile of temperature and moisture as well as kinematics of vertical wind profile.

Radiosonde data is a crucially important component of numerical weather prediction. Because a sonde may drift several hundred kilometers during the 90 to 120 minute flight, there may be concern that this could introduce problems into the model initialization. However, this appears not to be so except perhaps locally in jet stream regions in the stratosphere [3].

In 1985 the Soviet Venus probes Vega 1 and Vega 2 each dropped a radiosonde into the atmosphere of Venus. The sondes were tracked for two days.

See also

References

  1. ^ DuBois, Multhauf and Ziegler, "The Invention and Development of the Radiosonde", Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, No. 53, 2002.
  2. ^ DuBois, Multhauf and Ziegler, "The Invention and Development of the Radiosonde", Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, No. 53, 2002.
  3. ^ Vernoff, S. "Radio-Transmission of Cosmic Ray Data from the Stratosphere", Nature, June 29, 1935.
  4. ^ Dian J. Gaffen. Radiosonde Observations and Their Use in SPARC-Related Investigations. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.

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