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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.
A weather balloon is launched as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Balloon Baseline Stratospheric Aerosol Profiles project, which is taking aerosol measurements to ...
The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weather features such as clouds and hazes), all retained by Earth's gravity.
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. In 2013, a balloon named BS 13-08 reached a record altitude of 53.7 km (33.4 mi; 176,000 ft). [1]
Those balloons often reach heights of 20 miles above Earth -- or twice as high as planes typically fly. ... temperature and relative humidity as it ascends up into the atmosphere. The balloon and ...
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]
A balloon can only have buoyancy if there is a medium that has a higher average density than the balloon itself. Balloons cannot work on the Moon because it has almost no atmosphere. [14] Mars has a very thin atmosphere – the pressure is only 1 ⁄ 160 of earth atmospheric pressure – so a huge balloon would be needed even for a tiny lifting ...
A balloon could also be anchored to stay in one place to make atmospheric observations. Such a static balloon is known as an "aerostat". One of the trickier aspects of planetary balloon operations is inserting them into operation. Typically, the balloon enters the planetary atmosphere in an "aeroshell", a heat shield in