Hurricane Tracking: Animation of Driftsonde Balloon Launch

Related news: http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2006/driftsonde.shtml

The animated flight of a driftsonde, which is a high-altitude balloon outfitted with a robotic gondola and weather instruments that descend by parachute.

As the balloon rises toward the stratosphere, decreasing air pressure lets the balloon expand until it assumes a circular shape. The balloon carries its payload west from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean, driven by upper-level winds at its cruising altitude of about 65,000 feet. The gondola, controlled by scientists on the ground, then releases one of its instrument packages, called a dropsonde, into a type of storm system known as an easterly wave. The instrument package, which descends slowly with a parachute, sends measurements back to the gondola twice every second. The package has sensors to measure temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction. The gondola transmits the information to a satellite, which then relays it to scientists on the ground.

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