Chasing the weather
Not all scientists work in the lab, especially atmospheric physicists and meteorologists who need to get out into the field to chase down interesting weather systems. And the weather can uncooperative with our usual 9 to 5, sometimes arriving in the middle of the night.
For us working on the MiRadOr project, this means the night shift. In our previous blog post, we discussed what we are looking for and why it is interesting. In this post, we’ll take a look at how we respond to an approaching event.
Setting up early
When we see on the forecast that there will be some interesting event, for example an approaching Cold- or Warm Front, we know approximately when this will arrive and therefore by when our equipment needs to be set up. But “approximately” is not “exactly” and all forecasts have some uncertainties associated with them.
Therefore, we need to arrive at the test site early enough to ensure we’re prepared when the weather system of interest passes by. Setting up ahead of time also offers additional advantages: it allows us to observe how these phenomena evolve, track the event throughout its lifespan, and schedule our balloon launches strategically to obtain the most comprehensive data and insights possible.
The launch procedure
There are a few key pieces of equipment that facilitate our launches. The first is the most obvious: balloons. Balloons, and the helium gas that fills them, are quite literally what allows our radiosondes to fly, but they are not the full story.
The radiosondes themselves require some sophisticated electronics systems to function. In addition to power, we require an antenna to wirelessly receive the data and a portable weather station to ensure the accuracy of the sounding before the flight. Both of these are physically connected to a laptop in the bus, which we use to prepare the radiosondes and read out the data we receive. Additionally, we can gain more useful information about the flight, such as the GPS coordinates, flight path, duration, altitude and more.
The night shift
Working at night presents a unique set of challenges. At MiRadOr, our launch site is located far from any cities, which means that nighttime operations take place in near-total darkness, illuminated only by the lights we bring with us. Even with these light sources, it can be difficult to assess certain weather conditions, such as cloud cover, in the same way we can during daylight hours.
The nights are typically colder and windier, requiring shelter (provided by our bus), warm clothes and a few flasks of our favorite teas. The experiments often stretch into early hours of the morning, requiring a few flasks of our favorite coffees. We can pass the time with music, cards, a good book, or an interesting chat about what we’re seeing during our soundings.
And for our scientists, it’s definitely all worth it. We know that achieving the MiRadOr Project goals of using radiosondes, LiDARS and Microwave Radiometers to better understand the lowest levels atmosphere will lead to improvements in how we use wind energy, giving us another tool in the fight against climate change. Knowing this makes the good night’s rest which comes after the night shift all the more peaceful.
