For those of you who didn't get the memo, there was a radiosonde launch done right on the FIT campus yesterday, right in the Crawford Green. For those of you who did but couldn't come, well, I'm accommodating y'all too.
There was a lot of fun in launching the balloon, including the very tedious job of filling the balloon with helium.
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| Marcus filling the balloon as Dr. Lazarus looks on. |
Filling the balloon was a very long job. It took about 45 minutes just to fill the balloon with the helium. Nevertheless, it was fun and led to snarky comments about measuring the integral flux of the helium in the balloon.
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| This isn't the balloon you get at the circus. |
Once full, the balloon was big.
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| FIT graduate David Bishop tanks his turn at the helium tank. Photo courtesy Andrew Shipotofsky |
In all, it was about 4 feet in diameter. After a complex affair of playing with string, the balloon was ready to launch.
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| The balloon fully grown was rather impressive as I embarrass myself (blue shirt) by trying to snap a photo of it with my phone. Photo courtesy Andrew Shipotofsky |
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| Take-off or T-10, 9, 8... photo courtesy Andrew Shipotofsky |
Then came the big moment. The balloon was ready to launch. Four of us stood there with the balloon ready to go. We've positioned ourselves away from the trees, building, and phone wires.
And then we're told that we need permission from the FAA. Once the school safety coordinator graciously got us that permission, the balloon was sent on its merry way.
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| Bye bye, balloon! Photo courtesy Andrew Shipotofsky |
With lidar, we were able to get minute-by-minute updates on the lower atmospheric conditions. The balloon went up and out of sight until contact was lost after an hour of flight.
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| No, that's not a refrigerator. It's LIDAR used to measure the winds at 10 levels above the ground. |
So, in all, it was a day of sunburn, fun, learning, and gaining experience of some of the things done in the real world. Well worth it, and if you, as a student interested in the weather, can do so, I encourage you to register for Weather Briefing with Dr. Lazarus for next fall.
