NA23OAR0210560

The long endurance “StratoSonde” lighter-than-air, uncrewed system combines a low-cost, <2.7kg, self-navigating High-Altitude Balloon (HAB) with a micro-dropsonde dispensing system, enabling meteorological observations over remote areas of the globe by dispensing micro-dropsondes from the stratosphere. This disruptive capability is being used to obtain very high vertical resolution data from stratosphere down to sea-level and targeting specific regions and priority use cases. The existing micro-dropsonde system weighs just 20g and measures temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and pressure at 10m (30ft) vertical resolution. The >5day endurance StratoSonde supports up to 10 micro-dropsondes, which when released from the HAB, descend safely through the entire atmospheric column under a ribbon drogue while reporting observations directly back to the HAB. This project will assess the feasibility of integrating a disposable miniature aerosol and particulates sensor into a new type of micro-dropsonde capability, while retaining the ability to be dispensed from the StratoSonde HAB system. This will enable high resolution sensing for many use cases including volcanic ash plume detection and bio-aerosol detection of pollens, dust, and industrial pollution. This will enable meteorologists to account for aerosol and particulates on large scale meteorological mechanisms and ultimately improve the long-term forecast accuracy of extreme weather events.