Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

How to Use Weather Balloon Data to Map Atmospheric Temperature

Weather balloon assemblies known as radiosondes or rawinsondes are vital for gathering data, such as temperature, moisture and wind through the depth of the atmosphere. Balloon launches are conducted twice a day at evenly spaced points around the U.S. A sensor package containing an electronic thermometer, humidity sensor and barometer is attached to the balloon. A radio transmitter beams the information back to the ground station as the balloon rises. Collected upper-air weather data is fed into a computer network at the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) based in Camp Springs, Maryland.

Instructions

Finding Map Features
- 1
  Find the 500 millibar (mb) chart at the University Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) website. Search for the points where barbs project from the center of each circle to identify the station data plots of temperature, heights, moisture and winds. Note the air temperatures are in degrees Celsius and given by the number in the upper left of a given plot. Find the dewpoint depression value in the lower left beneath the air temperature. This is the difference between the temperature and the dewpoint.
- 2
  Examine the temperature gradients or changes with distance by connecting the dots of stations with equal temperature values. For instance a -5 degree reading in Seattle and a -5 degrees reading in Bismarck, North Dakota should be on a line of equal value.
- 3
  Print the map if you wish to manually analyze it. Use five-degree increments to draw or locate isotherms across the entire map using the procedure from Step 2. Estimate the line position if its value falls between stations. For example, if Dallas shows 7 degrees and Oklahoma City 4 degrees, the 5-degree line should pass between the two cities but somewhat closer to Oklahoma City.
- 4
  Examine the 850 mb analysis at the UCAR website and use the same methodology as described in Steps 2 and 3 to locate temperature patterns. Examine the completed map for isotherms that are close together as this may signal a cold frontal zone.

Nature