Author: balloonx

 

So the data has thrown up some oddities that we are trying to understand;

1. DRY & COLD LAYER

The first oddity is that the balloon went through a dry and cold layer at about 2500m [figs 1 & 2]. We know these are not erroneous readings because multiple sensors picked this up and we also saw the same thing on the way down.

If you look at the humidity graph [fig 1], you see the low cloud shortly after launch, then the odd cold dry layer, then a little bump (higher level cloud) and then it descends.

Fig 1 & 2. Humidity and External Temperature against altitude of the balloon

 

2. GREAT ASBY SWITCHBACKS

You can see in Fig. 3 that the balloon travels with multiple sharp changes of direction in the stratosphere and we are trying to understand these.  They happened above Great Asby, hence we are calling them the “Great Asby Switchbacks”.

Fig 3. Data from the balloon flight illustrating the Great Asby Switchbacks

3. HUMIDITY RISES

The third oddity is that the balloon’s sensors detected a humidity rise through the stratosphere. Gradual but noticeable [Fig 1]. We see the temperature rising back up (even above 0 degrees C) but the rise in humidity is unexpected [Fig 2].  That would be consistent with the increase in temperature (more moisture can exist in warmer air) but it is not what we expected.

 

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

1. The balloon was effectively flying along the line of an occluded front as seen in Fig 5. We know that these can create cyclones (cyclogenesis) but we did not expect that that the effect could rise into the stratosphere.
2. The jet stream was quite strong West – East over us as seen in Fig 4  but, again, we assumed that the effect would be lower in the troposphere.
3. We know that it is possible to have layers of cold dry air in the atmosphere, but we saw this layer on the way up and on the way down – so it extended some 90km and was only 1km thick.
4. We expected a consistent “drift” in the stratosphere and small changes in currents could be expected, but we were not aware that such “turbulence” could occur in the stratosphere.
5. On humidity, we understand that there is a process of transfer of water (ice) from the troposphere into the stratosphere, but we expected it to concentrate moisture lower down.

DOES ANYBODY KNOW A METEOROLOGIST WHO COULD HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY???

 

Fig 4. The Jetstream at the time of the balloon flight

 

Fig 5. Weather fronts at the time of the flight