The Instrument
A weather balloon is an inflated piece of equipment that serves as a carrier for scientific instruments employed in the study of weather. When using one to obtain wind data, it is often tracked using a radio direction finder, radar, or navigation system like GPS or global positioning system.
The main instrument attached to a weather balloon is called radiosonde. It is found at the lower end of the balloon's string. Such a device is capable of measuring various atmospheric parameters. After data gathering, the results can be sent immediately using a fixed receiver. Some of the things that can be measured by weather balloon and radiosonde are atmospheric pressure, humidity and temperature. Specialized radiosondes may also gather information about ozone concentration.
The weather balloon itself is capable of producing its own lift. Highly flexible latex is most commonly used for making weather balloons, although another material called Chloroprene may also used.
Hydrogen gas is often used to fill weather balloons released in North America due to the lower cost of the gas. Helium is another gas that may be used as an alternative for such a purpose. The amount of gas in the balloon determines the rate of its ascent, so its level can be moderated to control its movement.
Weather Balloons and Altitudes
Weather balloons can usually reach an altitude of 40 km or 25 miles. They can ascend further, but they often encounter a problem with the decreasing amount of pressure as they move to a higher altitude. Such a problem may cause them to expand up to a hundred times and may ultimately lead to their destruction. If such a thing happens, the radiosonde also ceases to work.
Instead of using weather balloons, sounding rockets can prevent any problems when going above 40 km. For much higher altitudes, a satellite is often used. Weather balloons are often mistaken as UFOs or unidentified flying objects. In reality, they are just products manufactured by companies like Totex, Kaysam, Cosmopren and Scientific Sales, Inc.
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