OBSERVATIONS ON THE SEPARATION OF PAIRS OF NEUTRAL BALLOONS AND APPLICATIONS TO ATMOSPHERIC DIFFUSION THEORY

Abstract

The effect on instantaneous source diffusion of initial source size and diffusing time are studied from observations on the rate of separation of pairs of “zero lift” balloons. The data indicate that the similarity concept of eddy diffusion is applicable for the scales of diffusion on the order of several minutes, and for distances of several kilometers, thus covering the region of many practical applications. These findings provide some interesting information about the magnitude of the time dependency of the separation rate in the atmosphere. The rate of eddy energy dissipation calculated for a group of 10 runs was 70–200 cm2 set−3.