

A radiosonde is a battery-powered
telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', "remote", and ' ...
instrument carried into the atmosphere usually by a
weather balloon
A weather balloon, also known as sounding balloon, is a balloon (specifically a type of high-altitude balloon) that carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of ...
that measures various
atmospheric parameters and transmits them by radio to a ground receiver. Modern radiosondes measure or calculate the following variables:
altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
,
pressure
Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country a ...
,
temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied on ...
,
relative humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity dep ...
,
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
(both
wind speed
In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer.
Wind spee ...
and
wind direction
Wind direction is generally reported by the direction from which it originates. For example, a ''north'' or ''northerly'' wind blows from the north to the south. The exceptions are onshore winds (blowing onto the shore from the water) and offsho ...
),
cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ow ...
readings at high altitude and
geographical position (
latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...
/
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...
). Radiosondes measuring
ozone
Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
concentration are known as ozonesondes.
Radiosondes may operate at a
radio frequency
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the uppe ...
of 403
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...
or 1680 MHz. A radiosonde whose position is tracked as it ascends to give wind speed and direction information is called a rawinsonde ("radar wind -sonde").
Most radiosondes have radar reflectors and are technically rawinsondes. A radiosonde that is dropped from an airplane and falls, rather than being carried by a balloon is called a
dropsonde
A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the devi ...
. Radiosondes are an essential source of
meteorological
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
data, and hundreds are launched all over the world daily.
History

The first flights of aerological instruments were done in the second half of the 19th century with kites and
meteographs, a recording device measuring pressure and temperature that was recuperated after the experiment. This proved to be difficult because the kites were linked to the ground and were very difficult to manoeuvre in gusty conditions. Furthermore, the sounding was limited to low altitudes because of the link to the ground.
Gustave Hermite
Gustave Hermite (11 June 1863 – 9 November 1914) was a French aeronaut and physicist, pioneer with Georges Besançon of the weather balloon. He was the nephew of Charles Hermite, one of the fathers of modern mathematical analysis.
Biography ...
and
Georges Besançon
Georges Besançon (1866–1934) founded and edited the aeronautical journal ''L'Aérophile''.
Besançon was a balloonist ("aeronaut") and journalist.
Besançon helped train the later-celebrated balloonist Salomon Andrée, probably in the late 18 ...
, from France, were the first in 1892 to use a balloon to fly the meteograph. In 1898,
Léon Teisserenc de Bort
Léon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort (5 November 1855 in Paris, France – 2 January 1913 in Cannes, France) was a French meteorologist and a pioneer in the field of aerology. Together with Richard Assmann (1845-1918), he is credited as co-discove ...
organized at the ''Observatoire de Météorologie Dynamique de
Trappes
Trappes () is a commune in the Yvelines department, region of Île-de-France, north-central France. It is a banlieue located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris, in the new town of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Transport
...
'' the first regular daily use of these balloons. Data from these launches showed that the temperature lowered with height up to a certain altitude, which varied with the season, and then stabilized above this altitude. De Bort's discovery of the
tropopause
The tropopause is the atmospheric boundary that demarcates the troposphere from the stratosphere; which are two of the five layers of the atmosphere of Earth. The tropopause is a thermodynamic gradient-stratification layer, that marks the end of ...
and
stratosphere
The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...
was announced in 1902 at the French Academy of Sciences.
Other researchers, like
Richard Aßmann
Richard Assmann (Anglicized spelling of the German name Richard Aßmann) (13 April 1845 in Magdeburg – 28 May 1918 in Gießen) was a German meteorologist and physician who was a native of Magdeburg. He made numerous contributions in high altitud ...
and
William Henry Dines
William Henry Dines BA FRS (5 August 1855 – 24 December 1927) was an English meteorologist.
Dines was born in London, the son of George Dines, also a meteorologist. He was educated at Woodcote House School, Windlesham, and afterwards entere ...
, were working at the same times with similar instruments.
In 1924, Colonel William Blaire in the
U.S. Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...
did the first primitive experiments with weather measurements from balloon, making use of the temperature dependence of radio circuits. The first true radiosonde that sent precise encoded telemetry from weather sensors was invented in France by . Bureau coined the name "radiosonde" and flew the first instrument on January 7, 1929.
Developed independently a year later,
Pavel Molchanov
Pavel Alexandrovich Molchanov (russian: Павел Александрович Молчанов) ( in Volosovo, Russian Empire – October 1941 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR) was a Soviet Russian meteorologist and the inventor of the first Russian ...
flew a radiosonde on January 30, 1930. Molchanov's design became a popular standard because of its simplicity and because it converted sensor readings to
Morse code
Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one ...
, making it easy to use without special equipment or training.
[DuBois, Multhauf and Ziegler, "The Invention and Development of the Radiosonde", ''Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology'', No. 53, 2002.]
Working with a modified Molchanov sonde, Sergey Vernov was the first to use radiosondes to perform cosmic ray readings at high altitude. On April 1, 1935, he took measurements up to using a pair of
Geiger counter
A Geiger counter (also known as a Geiger–Müller counter) is an electronic instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental ...
s in an anti-coincidence circuit to avoid counting secondary ray showers.
This became an important technique in the field, and Vernov flew his radiosondes on land and sea over the next few years, measuring the radiation's latitude dependence caused by the
Earth's magnetic field
Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magneti ...
.
In 1936, the U.S. Navy assigned the
U.S. Bureau of Standards (NBS) to develop an official radiosonde for the Navy to use.
The NBS gave the project to
Harry Diamond, who had previously worked on radio navigation and invented a blind landing system for airplanes. The organization led by Diamond eventually (in 1992) became a part of the
U.S. Army Research Laboratory
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) is the U.S. Army's foundational research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest sing ...
. In 1937, Diamond, along with his associates Francis Dunmore and Wilbur Hinmann, Jr., created a radiosonde that employed audio-frequency subcarrier modulation with the help of a resistance-capacity relaxation oscillator. In addition, this NBS radiosonde was capable of measuring temperature and humidity at higher altitudes than conventional radiosondes at the time due to the use of electric sensors.
In 1938, Diamond developed the first ground receiver for the radiosonde, which prompted the first service use of the NBS radiosondes in the Navy. Then in 1939, Diamond and his colleagues developed a ground-based radiosonde called the “remote weather station,” which allowed them to automatically collect weather data in remote and inhospitable locations.
By 1940, the NBS radiosonde system included a pressure drive, which measured temperature and humidity as functions of pressure.
It also gathered data on cloud thickness and light intensity in the atmosphere. Due to this and other improvements in cost (about $25), weight (> 1 kilogram), and accuracy, hundreds of thousands of NBS-style radiosondes were produced nationwide for research purposes, and the apparatus was officially adopted by the U.S. Weather Bureau.
Diamond was given the Washington Academy of Sciences Engineering Award in 1940 and the IRE Fellow Award (which was later renamed the Harry Diamond Memorial Award) in 1943 for his contributions to radio-meteorology.
The expansion of economically important government
weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
services during the 1930s and their increasing need for data motivated many nations to begin regular radiosonde observation programs
In 1985, as part of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
's
Vega program
The Vega program (Cyrillic: ВеГа) was a series of Venus missions that also took advantage of the appearance of comet 1P/Halley in 1986. '' Vega 1'' and '' Vega 2'' were uncrewed spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet ...
, the two
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
probes,
Vega 1
Vega 1 (along with its twin Vega 2) was a Soviet space probe, part of the Vega program. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier ''Venera'' craft. They were designed by Babakin Space Centre and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki ...
and
Vega 2
Vega 2 (along with Vega 1) was a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program to explore Halley's comet and Venus. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier ''Venera'' craft. The name VeGa (ВеГа) combines the first two letters Russian w ...
, each dropped a radiosonde into the
atmosphere of Venus
The atmosphere of Venus is the layer of gases surrounding Venus. It is composed primarily of supercritical carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than that of Earth. The temperature at the surface is 740 K (467 °C, 872 � ...
. The sondes were tracked for two days.
Although modern
remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Ear ...
by satellites, aircraft and ground sensors is an increasing source of atmospheric data, none of these systems can match the vertical resolution ( or less) and altitude coverage () of radiosonde observations, so they remain essential to modern meteorology.
Although hundreds of radiosondes are launched worldwide each day year-round, fatalities attributed to radiosondes are rare. The first known example was the electrocution of a lineman in the United States who was attempting to free a radiosonde from high-tension power lines in 1943. In 1970 an
Antonov 24
The Antonov An-24 ( Russian/ Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, I ...
operating
Aeroflot Flight 1661 suffered a loss of control after striking a radiosonde in flight resulting in the death of all 45 people on board.
Operation
A
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, a ...
or
latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosper ...
balloon filled with either
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
or
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
lifts the device up through the
atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. ...
. The maximum altitude to which the balloon ascends is determined by the diameter and thickness of the balloon. Balloon sizes can range from . 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. An balloon will burst at about . After bursting, a small
parachute on the radiosonde's support line carries it to Earth. A typical radiosonde flight lasts 60 to 90 minutes. One radiosonde from
Clark Air Base
Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located west of Angeles City, about northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U.S. Air ...
, Philippines, reached an altitude of .
The modern radiosonde communicates via radio with a computer that stores all the variables in real time. The first radiosondes were observed from the ground with a
theodolite
A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...
, and gave only a wind estimation by the position. With the advent of radar by the Signal Corps it was possible to track a radar target carried by the balloons with the
SCR-658 radar
The SCR-658 radar is a radio direction finding set introduced by the U. S. Army in 1944, was developed in conjunction with the SCR-268 radar. It was preceded by the SCR-258. Its primary purpose was to track weather balloons. Prior to this it wa ...
. Modern radiosondes can use a variety of mechanisms for determining wind speed and direction, such as a
radio direction finder
Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio statio ...
or
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
. The weight of a radiosonde is typically .
Sometimes radiosondes are deployed by being dropped from an aircraft instead of being carried aloft by a balloon. Radiosondes deployed in this way are called
dropsonde
A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the devi ...
s.
Routine radiosonde launches
Worldwide there are about 1,300 radiosonde launch sites. Most countries share data with the rest of the world through international agreements. Nearly all routine radiosonde launches occur 45 minutes before the official observation time of 00:00
UTC and 12:00 UTC, so as to provide an instantaneous snapshot of the atmosphere. This is especially important for
numerical modeling. In the United States the
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...
is tasked with providing timely upper-air observations for use in
weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
,
severe weather
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmos ...
watches and warnings, and atmospheric research. The National Weather Service launches radiosondes from 92 stations in North America and the
Pacific Islands
Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of ...
twice daily. It also supports the operation of 10 radiosonde sites in the
Caribbean.
A list of U.S. operated land based launch sites can be found in Appendix C, U.S. Land-based Rawinsonde Stations of the Federal Meteorological Handbook #3, titled Rawinsonde and Pibal Observations, dated May 1997.
Uses of upper air observations
Raw upper air data is routinely processed by supercomputers running numerical models. Forecasters often view the data in a graphical format, plotted on
thermodynamic diagrams
Thermodynamic diagrams are diagrams used to represent the thermodynamic states of a material (typically fluid) and the consequences of manipulating this material. For instance, a temperature–entropy diagram ( T–s diagram) may be used to demon ...
such as
Skew-T log-P diagram
A skew-T log-P diagram is one of four thermodynamic diagrams commonly used in weather analysis and forecasting. In 1947, N. Herlofson proposed a modification to the emagram that allows straight, horizontal isobars and provides for a large ang ...
s,
Tephigram
A tephigram is one of four thermodynamic diagrams commonly used in weather analysis and forecasting. The name evolved from the original name "T-\phi-gram" to describe the axes of temperature (T) and entropy (\phi) used to create the plot. Usuall ...
s, and or
Stüve diagram
A Stüve diagram is one of four thermodynamic diagrams commonly used in weather analysis and forecasting.
It was developed circa 1927 by the German meteorologist Georg Stüve (1888–1935) and quickly gained widespread acceptance in the United St ...
s, all useful for the interpretation of the atmosphere's vertical
thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws o ...
profile of temperature and moisture as well as
kinematics of vertical wind profile.
Radiosonde data is a crucially important component of numerical weather prediction. Because a sonde may drift several hundred kilometers during the 90- to 120-minute flight, there may be concern that this could introduce problems into the model initialization. However, this appears not to be so except perhaps locally in
jet stream regions in the stratosphere. This issue may in future be solved by
weather drones, which have precise control over their location and can compensate for drift.
International regulation
According to the
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
, a meteorological aids service (also: ''meteorological aids radiocommunication service'') is – according to ''Article 1.50'' of the
ITU Radio Regulations
The ITU Radio Regulations (short: RR) is a basic document of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that regulates on law of nations scale radiocommunication services and the utilisation of radio frequencies. It is the supplementation ...
(RR) – defined as ''"A
radiocommunication service
Radio communication service or radiocommunication service is according to Article 1.19 of the International Telecommunication Union's Radio Regulations (ITU RR),ITU Radio Regulations, Section III – Radio services, Article 1.19, definition: R ...
used for meteorological, including hydrological, observations and exploration."
Furthermore, according to ''article 1.109'' of the ITU RR:
Frequency allocation
The allocation of radio frequencies is provided according to ''Article 5'' of the ITU Radio Regulations (edition 2012).
[''ITU Radio Regulations, CHAPTER II – Frequencies, ARTICLE 5 Frequency allocations, Section IV – Table of Frequency Allocations'']
In order to improve harmonisation in spectrum utilisation, the majority of service-allocations stipulated in this document were incorporated in national Tables of Frequency Allocations and Utilisations which is with-in the responsibility of the appropriate national administration. The allocation might be primary, secondary, exclusive, and shared.
*primary allocation: is indicated by writing in capital letters (see example below)
*secondary allocation: is indicated by small letters
*exclusive or shared utilization: is within the responsibility of administrations
However, military usage, in bands where there is civil usage, will be in accordance with the ITU Radio Regulations.
; Example of
frequency allocation
Frequency allocation (or spectrum allocation or spectrum management) is the allocation and regulation of the electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies (the spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation and t ...
:
See also
*
6AK5
The 6AK5 vacuum tube is a miniature 7-pin sharp-cutoff pentode used as RF or IF amplifier especially in high-frequency wide-band applications at frequencies up to 400 MHz.
It was developed by Bell Labs / Western Electric and used extensively as ...
*
Aerography (meteorology)
Aerography is the production of weather charts. The information is supplied by radiosonde observations, principally. ''Constant-pressure'' charts are routinely constructed at standard air pressures. Standard air pressures are 850, 700, 500, 400, 3 ...
*
Atmospheric model
An atmospheric model is a mathematical model constructed around the full set of primitive dynamical equations which govern atmospheric motions. It can supplement these equations with parameterizations for turbulent diffusion, radiation, moist p ...
*
Atmospheric thermodynamics Atmospheric thermodynamics is the study of heat-to- work transformations (and their reverse) that take place in the earth's atmosphere and manifest as weather or climate. Atmospheric thermodynamics use the laws of classical thermodynamics, to des ...
*
CTD (instrument)
''For information about the CTD-rosette equipment package as a whole, see: Rosette sampler''
A CTD or sonde is an oceanography instrument used to measure the electrical conductivity, temperature, and pressure of seawater (the D stands for "dept ...
*
Global horizontal sounding technique The Global horizontal sounding technique (GHOST) program was an atmospheric field research project in the late 1960s for investigating the technical ability to gather weather data using hundreds of simultaneous long-duration balloons for very long-r ...
*
Rocketsonde
A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...
*
Totex
Totex Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of meteorological balloons. The company began production of balloons in 1937.
They currently produce three types of balloons:
*TA is a rubber/latex balloon and was developed in 1940.
*CR is a chloropr ...
- a Japanese manufacturer of meteorological balloons
*
Vaisala
Vaisala Oyj () is a Finnish company that develops, manufactures and markets products and services for environmental and industrial measurement.
Their major customer groups and markets are national meteorological and hydrological services, avia ...
*
Vilho Väisälä
Vilho Väisälä (; September 28, 1889 – August 12, 1969) was a Finnish meteorologist and physicist, and founder of Vaisala Oyj.
After graduation in mathematics in 1912, Väisälä worked for the Finnish Meteorological Institute in ''ae ...
*
Water-activated battery
A water-activated battery is a disposable reserve battery that does not contain an electrolyte and hence produces no voltage until it is soaked in water for several minutes.
Description
Typically, a large variety of aqueous solutions can be ...
*
Cricketsonde
A Cricketsonde (Cold Rocket Instrument Carrying Kit sonde) was a CO2 propelled, low-altitude meteorological rocket designed in the early 1960s by Texaco Inc. and the Friez Instrument Division of Bendix Corporation. It was used by various governmen ...
References
External links
Upper air data for the world - past and presentTephigrams and Skew-T log P diagrams.
Radiosonde Museum of North AmericaPhoto - Early Type RadiosondePhoto - Radiosonde, Transistor Type
{{Authority control
Telecommunications equipment
Atmospheric thermodynamics
French inventions
Measuring instruments
Meteorological instrumentation and equipment
Russian inventions
Science and technology in the Soviet Union
Soviet inventions
Sonde
Sonde (French for ''probe'') may refer to:
Electronic probes
*CTD (instrument), a type of water quality sensor
*Ionosonde, a radar for examining the ionosphere
*Radiosonde, a piece of equipment used on weather balloons
*Rocketsonde, a sounding roc ...
International Telecommunication Union
Atmospheric sounding