Thursday, May 6, 2010

What all does a weather balloon measure?

A weather balloon is also known as a sounding balloon. It carries an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and it can obtain wind data. This expendable device is called a radiosonde. It is tracked by radar and sends information back after floating aloft in the atmosphere.
The Balloon itself is made of a highly flexible latex material. The balloon is usually filled with hydrogen rather than helium because it is less expensive. Helium can be used as a substitute. The balloons can reach altitudes up to 25 miles or more, it depends on the pressure. Sometimes the balloon goes to far into the atmosphere they have to use sounding rockets to find them. Many UFO sightings have been mistaken for weather balloons.
Weather balloons are being launched everywhere for observations on recent atmospheric updates. They help meteorologists and forecasters on the news to predict the weather.

3 comments:

  1. Beast711 I looked, and I think you have all the information about what weather balloons measure. You showed me some things I didn't know about weather balloons. Like, how the instrument that the balloon carries is called a radiosonde. This is really good.

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  2. Beast you pretty much covered everything on a weather balloon. You told us what it does and why it does these things. I think you did an awesome job on your blog.

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  3. Its a great blog & this article has lots off information about weather balloon what I didn't know. In this article I came to know what & why weather balloon does. Weather Measuring Instrument

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