KOCHI: Not many know the technique used by the Met Department to measure temperature and relative humidity at a particular place. The process, done using an equipment called the radiosonde, involves letting it go after the data is collected.However, a group of students of the School of Engineering, Cusat, have come up with a solution to avoid the huge cost incurred due to ditching the equipment.
“The wastage can be eliminated by retrieving the radiosonde, which is a transmitter that sends data back to the ground every one to two seconds,” said Timothy Simon Thomas, director, Mission 100kft. Usually, the transmitter is used only once as the balloon used in the equipment bursts after the mission is over. The solution? “The wastage can be eliminated by fixing the transmitter with a geo-fencing system which will help the ground control to track and guide the movement of the transmitter. Besides the geo-fencing system, the transmitter is also fitted with three parachutes to enable smooth landing of the radiosonde,” he added. The payload developed by the Cusat students also has a flight computer and equipment to control its temperature in the cold environment of the high altitude.
“Once the weather balloon is released, it starts sending data as it ascends to a height of around 50 km. While ascending, the balloon also drifts in the wind. However, with the help of the geo-fencing, the ground control will be able to track the position of the balloon and once it bursts after reaching a height of 1,00,000 ft, the parachutes attached tothe radiosonde can be deployed using a remote,” he said. With the help of the tracking device, the transmitter can be retrieved and used again, thus saving a lot of money, added Timothy.
“The Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at Cusat has shown interest in the system that we have developed,” said Timothy.
Radiosonde
A radiosonde is a battery-powered telemetry instrument carried into the atmosphere usually by a weather balloon that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them by radio to a ground receiver.