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Léon Teisserenc de Bort
Léon Teisserenc de Bort pioneered the usage of weather balloons in 1896. He created a series of balloons made from either paper or rubber, filled with hydrogen. His balloons were anywhere from 0.4 meters to 8 meters in diameter when inflated. He made special instruments to measure air temperature in the upper atmosphere. He eventually was the first to discover that there were at least two distinct levels in the upper atmosphere, the stratosphere and troposphere.
Modern Day Usage
Many organizations utilize weather balloons, including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its meteorological arm, the National Weather Service. Modern balloons are made of a variety of materials, including latex and synthetic rubber. NASA's balloons sometimes stay aloft for weeks; its longest flight duration has been 41 days.
Radiosondes
Many weather balloons use instrument packages called radiosondes to transmit information about atmospheric conditions. Radiosondes measure air pressure, relative humidity and temperature. They then transmit this information back to the ground or to satellite by radio waves.
When the balloon inevitably pops, due to air pressure in the upper atmosphere, the radiosonde falls back to Earth by parachute. The package contains instructions on how to send the radiosonde back to the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service
The National Weather Service alone sends out over 1,800 balloons a day, from locations all across the world. Besides information about pressure, temperature and humidity, the balloons are indicators of wind speed and direction. Without the weather balloons, it would be impossible to accurately predict weather patterns beyond a few hours in advance.
Weather balloons, besides being used to forecast weather, are used in research into air pollution, meteorology, climate change and ozone loss.