COD Meteorology Department Launches Weather Balloon
GLEN ELLYN, Ill., May 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Approximately 125 people gathered in the Street Scene of College of DuPage's Homeland Security Education Center on the College's main campus in Glen Ellyn to see the launch of a meteorological weather balloon.
Click here to view photos from this event.
Kicking off the COD Meteorology program's 27th storm chasing season, the launch was attended by COD students, faculty and staff, as well as community members, meteorological industry experts, and past and current participants in the COD storm-chasing program. This event marked the first time a weather balloon has been launched from the College.
COD Meteorology Professors Victor Gensini and Paul Sirvatka were thrilled with the launch.
"The purpose of this event was to raise awareness about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields at COD and to show off our unique thunderstorm laboratory program," said Gensini. "Today's launch was a huge success. We are looking forward to doing this again in the fall or next spring."
Filled with 35 cubic feet of helium, the inflated balloon measured approximately five and a half feet wide at launch and carried a radiosonde; an instrument used to record and transmit data. Weather balloons continue to expand as they rise; eventually reaching a breaking point at which time the attached radiosonde will drift safely back to earth suspended by a small parachute. During the 65-minute flight, the radiosonde transmitted data on a variety of atmospheric conditions including humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction, dew point, barometric pressure and atmospheric density, as well as trajectory data such as latitude, longitude, altitude and flight path. Attendees were able to view the data and watch the flight path in real-time via Google Maps and see a three-dimensional rendering of the flight path and altitude trajectory. The balloon reached heights of approximately 12.5 miles above the earth; nearly double that of the average cruising altitude of a commercial aircraft. Driven by a brisk 35-knot wind, the balloon quickly headed approximately 4.3 miles west where it changed course, doubling back and heading east for more than 30 miles until it finally popped, nearly 65,000 feet above the lakefront in Chicago.
Click here to read more about the launch.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150505/214018
SOURCE College of DuPage
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