Seems like every time someone gets caught spying from above, they try to pass it off as a weather observation. And there is some room for credibility in that excuse; after all, you were up in the sky with a package of electronic instruments. Who’s to say they aren’t studying the weather, at least partly? But the data required for upper atmospheric weather observation does not include high-resolution photography, sweeping the radio spectrum, or other go-go gadgets; just temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure will do, thank you.
Plots like this one of weather balloon data help forecasters predict severe weather and which type of precipitation to expect. Â
Before meteorologists can understand what’s going on at the surface well enough to make a forecast, first they have to understand what’s going on in the upper atmosphere. Specifically, they want to know the wind velocity, the temperature, the humidity, and the air pressure aloft. There is no better way to measure these things than by sending a package of weather instruments up in a weather balloon equipped with a radio to send the data back to you in real-time, a GPS so you can track it, and a battery to power the package.
Data from multiple weather balloons can be combined to create a more complete picture of what's going on in the upper atmosphere.
The package of weather instruments is called a radiosonde (though sometimes, when it has tracking ability or is dropped from a plane, it is called something else). These packages must be lightweight and inexpensive because when the weather balloon finally pops and the package parachutes back to earth, you don’t know where it will land or if you will get it back.
If you are lucky enough to find a fallen NWS radiosonde, it is safe to handle and yours to keep if you wish. Your tax money paid for it, after all. But some radiosondes can be refurbished and reused. Those will have a prepaid mailer attached if you choose to return it.
Our skies have more weather balloons in them than you might think. 92 National Weather Service offices across America launch them simultaneously twice a day, every day, morning and evening. They are typically five feet across when first filled, made of latex, and contain inert helium gas. They can reach altitudes of 100,000 feet or more, sometimes expanding to 20 feet across before the outside air pressure gets so low that they pop. Flights last a couple of hours and often end 120 miles from their launch site.
Tracking two weather balloons launched from Boise last weekend
The Boise National Weather Service is one which launches and tracks weather balloons twice a day. You can track them yourself, along with all the other weather balloons in the world, at sondehub.org.
The winds on December 18th carried this weather balloon from Boise nearly to Idaho Falls.
The balloons launched from Boise usually find their way over the Boise National Forest and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness before they pop. But in the strong winds we’ve had lately, sometimes they head our way. On December 18{sup}th{/sup}, 2022, the wind carried a weather balloon all the way from Boise to near Idaho Falls. So when the wind is strong from the west, that strange spot in the sky, or parachute and little bundle of electronics you find in a tree, might just be from the National Weather Service in Boise. In fact, I hope it is.
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