Glendora Random Weather Fact

Radiosonde
(Sonde is French for probe) A weather balloon lifts the device up through the atmosphere. As the balloon ascends through the atmosphere, the pressure decreases causing the balloon to expand. Eventually, the balloon will expand to the extent that its skin will break, terminating the ascent. Balloon-borne radiosondes reach altitudes as great as 90,000 ft (27,400 m) above the earth's surface. The modern radiosonde communicates via radio with a computer that stores all the variables in real-time. Radiosondes have temperature, humidity and pressure transducers and a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver’s position is transmitted by the radio to record the radiosonde’s altitude and position to calculate winds aloft. The weight of a radiosonde is typically 250 grams. It should also be noted that the average radiosonde is lost and never recovered. Radiosonde observations are taken twice daily at 0000 hours and 1200 hours Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). All worldwide agencies launch their radiosondes at approximately the same time, and over 1500 such observations are taken daily.