Trajectories of Rubber Balloons used in Balloon Releases: Theory and Application

摘要

Balloon releases are one of the main attractions of many fairs. Helium filledrubber balloons are released to carry postcards over preferably long distances.Although such balloons have been considered in atmospheric sciences and airsafety analysis, there is only scarce literature available on the subject. Thiswork intends to close this gap by providing a comprehensive theoreticaloverview and a thorough analysis of real-life data. All relevant physicalproperties of a rubber balloon are carefully modelled and supplemented byweather observations to form a self-contained trajectory simulation tool. Theanalysis of diverse balloon releases provided detailed insight into the flightdynamics and potential optimisations. Helium balloons are found to reachroutinely altitudes above 10 km. Under optimal conditions, they could stay morethan 24 hours airborne while reaching flight distances close to 3000 km.However, external weather effects reduce the typical lifetime to 2-5 hours.