Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists » scientific balloons

South Pole Ozonesonde Launch

Nick Morgan — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:12:53 +0000

SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA– Preparation for an ozonesonde launch takes place in the Balloon Inflation Facility (BIF) and begins about 7-10 days prior to launch day. We open up the styrofoam package which contains a pump, some circuitry, and a battery. There is some important information we need to know about the pump such as the sensor’s response time, and how much air it pumps through it. The flow rate through the pump is probably the most important piece of information because we enter that into a program that calculates the ozone. For example, if there is more air flowing through it, then it is going to measure more ozone so that needs to be taken into account. All the sondes have slightly different flow rates so they all have to be checked. There are various other checks that we run though to make sure that the sonde is up to specs as well on the day of the launch. Some tests are just repeated the day of the launch.

Then we head into the “hangar” to prep the balloon (plastic balloon, in warmer months we use rubber). The balloons are filled with helium and are clipped to a set amount of weight so we know that we will get consistent rise speeds and burst altitudes. Since the plastic balloons don’t expand, most of it left empty so when it get’s to high altitude at low pressure, the helium has space to expand into.

Then after some final preparation of the ozonsonde package which may include some heating elements to keep the pump warm and getting the battery ready, we are ready to launch!

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Meet a PolarTREC Teacher

Zoe Courville — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:22:17 +0000

SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND– In two of my earlier dispatches, we met Dr. Barry Lefer, a scientist studying snow chemistry, and micrometerologist Dr. Craig Clements with his tethered balloon launch.

Now I’d like to introduce you to a ‘PolarTREC’ teacher who has been following along with them: Craig Beals is a high school teacher from Billings, Montana, working primarily with Barry Lefer’s group helping them to collect data.

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Tethered Balloon Launch

Zoe Courville — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:48:16 +0000

SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND– Meet Dr. Craig Clements from San Jose State University, a micrometereologist studying the atmosphere above Summit with an interesting-looking piece of equipment.

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The Balloon Launch

Zoe Courville — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:53:44 +0000

SUMMIT CAMP, GREENLAND– Summit Science Techs Andy Clarke and Steve Munsell launch a balloon to measure ozone, temperature, and pressure above camp.

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Sky-High Science

Exploratorium — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:57:39 +0000

Studying cosmic rays, antimatter, ice sheets, and more using scientific balloons

Despite its reputation for some of the coldest, fiercest weather on the planet, Antarctica is the hot spot for the little-known but expanding field of scientific ballooning, including NASA’s Ultra Long Duration Balloon Project. Scientific balloons are the cheapest, fastest way to carry payloads of up to 8,000 pounds to heights of up to 120,000 feet (36.5 km), where the earth’s atmosphere gives way to near space. Made of tough polyethylene film, the balloon material is as thin as ordinary kitchen plastic wrap. Once released, the droplet-shaped balloons expand to the size of a stadium as they ascend into the thinning air, where they can remain for weeks and even months.

Two things make Antartica an optimal site for scientific ballooning. The first is the circumpolar wind, a strong steady wind high in the stratosphere that carries balloons steadily and predictably around the globe. The second is the nightless Antarctic summers, which minimize the daily heating and cooling by the sun that causes balloons to lose altitude over time.

Balloon-borne projects include ATIC, a device to study cosmic rays; BESS, an antimatter detector; and ANITA, which uses the entire Antarctic ice sheet as a collecting aperture to detect high-energy neutrinos.