Stratospheric balloon-based dropsonde technology: Development and preliminary assessment over the Tibetan Plateau: 基于高空气球平台的下投探空:系统研发和青藏高原实验

Abstract

To complement the atmospheric profile measurements under complex geographical environments and extreme weather conditions, a stratospheric balloon-based dropsonde technology, which is carried by a stratospheric balloon platform from the Earth's surface to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) to release the dropsonde for measurements, is independently developed and preliminarily assessed over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in this study. The dropsonde system is mainly composed of the dropsonde chamber, dropsonde with a parachute, data receiving and communication antennas, dropsonde-releasing device, and GPS (Global Positioning System) modules. The dropsonde measurements can be sent in real time through satellite communication links and by radio signals to a data receiver at the ground control center for storage and processing. A total of eight dropsondes aboard the stratospheric balloon were successfully released during the TP campaign in 2020. A preliminary assessment was conducted based on a case comparison between the dropsonde and radiosonde measurements, which indicated that the dropsonde technology we developed can generally provide reasonable atmospheric profiles. However, further efforts are still required to improve the detection performance of the dropsonde sensors after long-term locating in the UTLS and to assess the accuracy and precision of the detection technology more carefully.摘要为提高复杂地理环境和极端天气条件下的大气廓线探测能力, 本文自主研发了基于平流层高空气球平台的下投探空系统, 并在青藏高原开展探测评估实验.该系统主要由下投探空舱,携带降落伞的下投探空仪,下投施放装置,数据接收通讯天线和GPS模块等组成.下投探空仪测量数据通过卫星通信链路和无线电信号实时发送至数据接收机存储处理.2020年青藏高原实验中8枚下投探空仪全部成功施放, 提供了合理有效的大气廓线探测数据.后续会进一步提高下投探空仪传感器性能, 全面评估其探测准确性和精度.