High Altitude Balloon Launch

 

Introduction: A High Altitude Balloon Launch aka: HABL, is where you send the same weather balloon, as used in the previous Balloon mapping, but this time sending it into altitudes above 60,000 feet. There are a few different obstacles to tackle when sending something this high into the altitude.

Recap: Two things happen as you travel up through the atmosphere. The temperature drops dramatically and the air pressure lowers.
First the significance of the Temperature. Due to the extreme cold as you climb in altitude the camera must be secured so it does not freeze. Also as the air pressure drops the balloon will expand because the pressure within the balloon is greater than the outside pressure. Eventually causing the balloon to burst and fall back to earth.

Altitude above Sea Level	Temp. (F)	Pressure	Air Density
5000	76.84	17.554	27.45
0	59	14.696	23.77
5000	41.17	12.228	20.48
10000	23.36	10.108	17.56
15000	5.55	8.297	14.96
20000	-12.26	6.759	12.67
25000	-30.05	5.461	10.66
30000	-47.83	4.373	8.91
35000	-65.61	3.468	7.38
40000	-69.7	2.73	5.87
45000	-69.7	2.149	4.62
50000	-69.7	1.692	3.64
60000	-69.7	1.049	2.26
70000	-67.42	0.651	1.39
80000	-61.98	0.406	0.86
90000	-56.54	0.255	0.56
100000	-51.1	0.162	0.33
150000	19.4	0.02	0.037
200000	-19.78	0.003	0.0053
250000	-88.77	0	0.00065

Methodology: We used a small styrofoam cooler to house the camera. This housing served a couple purposes, it would keep the camera warm and also help in protection of the camera once it fell back to earth. The camera was then secured into the cooler with a couple of heat pads to help keep the camera warm. We used the same type of heat pads that you would use for hunting or some outdoor activity in the winter.

Here is the class taking out the balloon for the launch.

This balloon was bigger than the one we used for the other aerial photography. The balloon was going further up in altitude and needed to be allowed some space for expansion. The camera rig was fastened onto the balloon as well as the GPS tracking device(so we could track the camera and retrieve) as well as a parachute for the descent. The above photo gives a good idea how big the balloon was, nearly 8' in diameter.
It was a fairly good day for the launch. The wind was out of the west so the balloon immediatly took off to the east.

One of the first still photos made. You are looking at UWEC campus.

Here is a great still photo made by the camera at some higher altitudes.

 

 

This photo shows that the balloon is probably reaching it's maximum altitude. Seems you are starting to see space in the upper left hand corner.

Finally the camera falls back to earth and we are lucky enough to get a signal from our GPS device and able to go and retreive it.

There it is stuck in the tree.

And, Dr. Hupy doing some climbing.

Here is the whole contraption. The orange cooler holding the camers, the tannish balloon and the blue parachute. 

 

As seen in the map above, the balloon took a ESE(East Southeast) path from Eau Claire.The balloon eventually travelled nearly 80 miles!

 

http://desi.uwec.edu/Geography/Hupyjp/Weather_Balloon_1024.asx Here is a video of the launch from earth.

 

Conclusion: I think this exercise was one of the coolest ones that we did. I think this would be a great way to teach any age group of a wide variety of subjects. You could teach geography, meteorolgy, atmosphere, etc.