Scientific ballooning in Brazil

Abstract

We present an overview of the scientific ballooning activities that took place in Brazil over the past 30 years as well as the current ongoing efforts in the area. We also briefly describe the balloon launching facility that exists at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (National Institute for Space Research) — INPE. Up to now, over 100 scientific balloon experiments, related to Astrophysics, Aeronomy, and Geophysics were launched from Brazil taking advantage of the country's continental dimensions, a well-defined rain season, and a low population density, which offer excellent conditions for scientific ballooning activities. Balloons with volumes up to 500,000 cubic meters can be launched from INPE's balloon launching base (latitude S 22° 4′ 2″; longitude W 044° 58′ 41″). The availability of good roads and several inland airports in Brazil provides the necessary structure for safe payload retrieval and its rapid return to the balloon base. There are several airports throughout Brazil that can also be used as balloon launching bases, mainly in the country's Eastern region. Overflights of more than 1,000 kilometers are possible and easily attained. Balloon flights ranging from a few hours to long duration flights can be safely verified. The constant climate monitoring through the use of weather satellites information received at INPE provides the necessary data to determine the necessary conditions for a long duration flight. INPE's Center for Weather Forecast and Climate Studies (CPTEC) provides the necessary weather forecast support for launch and payload retrieval.