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| Lesson Plan 8 |
Earth
and space sciences |
| Year Level: 5/8 |
Key
learning area: Science
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Meteorology - What is it?Weather balloon trace A
Below is a trace* of a balloon flight as it climbs up through the atmosphere. It shows high humidity in the first few kilometres of the atmosphere where clouds would be. A humidity reading over 75% usually indicates the presence of cloud. Notice how the temperature drops as the balloon climbs through the atmosphere. The weather balloon (300gram in size) would burst around the 30 km point and it could take up to 90 minutes to reach that point. * A weather balloon trace is a print out of the data sent back to the weather station by the weather balloon as it climbs through the atmosphere. It first appears on the stations computer screen. |
"Up
... up and away".|
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Weather balloon trace B This weather balloon trace below shows a subsidence inversion or a layer of warm air that on calm days will trap smoke and pollution in the lower part of the atmosphere. The warm air is a layer approximately 350metres thick, starting at the 0.6 km level. |
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Radiosonde The diagram on the left is of a radiosonde that is attached to a weather balloon. It measures its surrounding environment through the sensors it has and sends the information back to the weather station. It hangs below the weather balloon at the end of a 30 metre cord which is usually attached to the point of the radar reflector. The radar reflector is used to help radar track the balloon (see the silvery triangular object at the bottom of the weather balloon). 1. Sonde housing |
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