Development of an Adjustable Buoyancy Balloon Tracer of Atmospheric Motion. Phase 1. Systems Design and Demonstration of Feasibility

摘要

An Adjustable Buoyancy Balloon Tracer of Atmospheric Motion is a research tool which allows one to follow atmospheric flows in both the horizontal and the vertical, including the weak, sustained vertical motion associated with meso- and synoptic- scale atmospheric disturbances. The design goals for the Balloon Tracer to be developed here specify a lifetime > or = 3 days, tracking range > or = 1000 km, a ceiling altitude > or = 500 mb (5.5 km), and the capability to respond to mean vertical flows as low as 1 cm/s. The balloon tracer is also to measure and telemeter selected meteorological variables, to be sufficiently inexpensive to permit use in significant numbers, and to be serviced by a ground system capable of handling several balloon tracers at a time. While the balloon tracer has applications throughout the atmospheric sciences, the immediate motivation for this effort is to meet the need to evaluate the accuracies of existing air pollution transport models, to establish source-receptor relationships to distances of order 1000 km, and to assess the inherent limits on the predictability of source impact at long distances. The authors have proposed a generic design for such a system. They also have subjected the proposed design to theoretical analysis, have constructed a prototype, and have conducted a series of tests with the prototype to evaluate the concept. They conclude, without reservation that a system meeting the design goals is feasible, and are proceeding to build that system in Phase II of this project.