OT: Weather balloons
Maybe one of you pilots can shed some light on this. I swear I saw a weather balloon being released at SL Int'l airport this morning. It appeared to be a balloon with an orangish beacon light on the bottom, that illuminated the balloon itself. Constant light, no flashing. I stared at it for a while thinking it might be a helicopter taking-off, but the lights were wrong and it didn't fly any kind of pattern, just more-or-less straight up and following the wind direction. About 5:05 AM, not far from the Million-Air terminal that Patrick flies from. Do those balloons still get used? Seems kind of hazardous releasing it from the airport, unless radar showed no incoming traffic for a long ways off.
Just a thought: http://www.noaa.gov/features/02_monitoring/balloon.html -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 5:55 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Maybe one of you pilots can shed some light on this. I swear I saw a weather balloon being released at SL Int'l airport this morning. It appeared to be a balloon with an orangish beacon light on the bottom, that illuminated the balloon itself. Constant light, no flashing. I stared at it for a while thinking it might be a helicopter taking-off, but the lights were wrong and it didn't fly any kind of pattern, just more-or-less straight up and following the wind direction. About 5:05 AM, not far from the Million-Air terminal that Patrick flies from. Do those balloons still get used? Seems kind of hazardous releasing it from the airport, unless radar showed no incoming traffic for a long ways off. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
It sure looked like a weather balloon, but I wasn't sure NOAA still launched them, in this modern satellite & Doppler radar age. I remember them as a kid but lately you only see them on You Tube taking lego men to the stratosphere. Thanks, Seth. On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 8:15 AM, Seth Jarvis <SJarvis@slco.org> wrote:
Just a thought:
NOAA is still very interested in the vertical profile of the atmosphere, called a "sounding" The amount of temperature change per thousand feet and the way the temperature changes is key to knowing the stability of the atmosphere and what the weather really is going to be like. A weather balloon is about the only way to get this data. From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 8:55 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons It sure looked like a weather balloon, but I wasn't sure NOAA still launched them, in this modern satellite & Doppler radar age. I remember them as a kid but lately you only see them on You Tube taking lego men to the stratosphere. Thanks, Seth. On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 8:15 AM, Seth Jarvis <SJarvis@slco.org> wrote:
Just a thought:
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
5 AM not a real busy time for incoming flights.
Just a thought:
http://www.noaa.gov/features/02_monitoring/balloon.html
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 5:55 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons
Maybe one of you pilots can shed some light on this. I swear I saw a weather balloon being released at SL Int'l airport this morning. It appeared to be a balloon with an orangish beacon light on the bottom, that illuminated the balloon itself. Constant light, no flashing. I stared at it for a while thinking it might be a helicopter taking-off, but the lights were wrong and it didn't fly any kind of pattern, just more-or-less straight up and following the wind direction.
About 5:05 AM, not far from the Million-Air terminal that Patrick flies from.
Do those balloons still get used? Seems kind of hazardous releasing it from the airport, unless radar showed no incoming traffic for a long ways off. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club.
To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club.
To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Commercial passenger traffic is almost non-existant at 5 AM, but there are cargo carriers such as UPS, FedEx, etc., at all hours, as well as military and private air traffic. Still, I'm sure they have to get tower clearance to launch. On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 8:57 AM, Erik Hansen <erikhansen@thebluezone.net>wrote:
5 AM not a real busy time for incoming flights.
I'd think that at the airport would be about the best place to launch it seeing as there are no low altitude flight corridors directly over the airport. Of course things get very busy just a couple miles away, but that wouldn't be an issue unless the wind was really blowing it laterally. Jared On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 9:10 AM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Commercial passenger traffic is almost non-existant at 5 AM, but there are cargo carriers such as UPS, FedEx, etc., at all hours, as well as military and private air traffic. Still, I'm sure they have to get tower clearance to launch.
On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 8:57 AM, Erik Hansen <erikhansen@thebluezone.net>wrote:
5 AM not a real busy time for incoming flights.
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club.
To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Actually I reference the data that these balloons capture when I want to go out observing. http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html The balloons go up twice a day at 0z and 12z and their data can show layers of moist air that will cause observing problems as well as giving the total water in the air column which indicates thunder storm potential. Here is an example. Precipitable water [mm] for entire sounding: 29.94 When this number is over an inch we are in for a rough ride. When it is less than a 10 the air is very dry and deep sky objects like the eyes in the Owl nebula start to jump out at you in the eyepiece. I also monitor the length of contrails but these only tell you what is happening at the altitude of the aircraft. DT ________________________________ From: Seth Jarvis <SJarvis@slco.org> To: 'Utah Astronomy' <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 8:15 AM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Just a thought: http://www.noaa.gov/features/02_monitoring/balloon.html -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 5:55 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Maybe one of you pilots can shed some light on this. I swear I saw a weather balloon being released at SL Int'l airport this morning. It appeared to be a balloon with an orangish beacon light on the bottom, that illuminated the balloon itself. Constant light, no flashing. I stared at it for a while thinking it might be a helicopter taking-off, but the lights were wrong and it didn't fly any kind of pattern, just more-or-less straight up and following the wind direction. About 5:05 AM, not far from the Million-Air terminal that Patrick flies from. Do those balloons still get used? Seems kind of hazardous releasing it from the airport, unless radar showed no incoming traffic for a long ways off. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
FWIW, our local NWS office is on a non-standard launch schedule. I stopped by their office a few weeks ago and asked about launch times and they said while the standard launch times are 00 and 12 Z they launch at 11 and 23 Z. I rang them a few minutes ago and got the same answer. BTW, CalSky provides weather balloon sighting predictions. However while they do show the non-standard launch times (11/23Z or 05/17 local) their predictions for my area in Stansbury are typically 6.4 to 6.8h and 18.2 to 18.7h (local). This despite NWS saying the balloons would have burst before then. patrick On 03 Sep 2013, at 11:35, daniel turner wrote:
Actually I reference the data that these balloons capture when I want to go out observing.
http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html
The balloons go up twice a day at 0z and 12z and their data can show layers of moist air that will cause observing problems as well as giving the total water in the air column which indicates thunder storm potential.
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 5:55 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons
Maybe one of you pilots can shed some light on this. I swear I saw a weather balloon being released at SL Int'l airport this morning. It appeared to be a balloon with an orangish beacon light on the bottom, that illuminated the balloon itself. Constant light, no flashing. I stared at it for a while thinking it might be a helicopter taking-off, but the lights were wrong and it didn't fly any kind of pattern, just more-or-less straight up and following the wind direction.
About 5:05 AM, not far from the Million-Air terminal that Patrick flies from.
Do those balloons still get used? Seems kind of hazardous releasing it from the airport, unless radar showed no incoming traffic for a long ways off.
Hi Chuck, Here are data on this morning's launch: http://www.calsky.com/?Balloons=&interval=0.125&station=72572&tdt=2456538.96... I don't think they carry lights but maybe what you saw was the Sun reflecting off the orange equipment hanging below the balloon. I didn't realize the balloons are up to 15m across when they burst. That's the size of a small house. No wonder they can be seen from far away. BTW, many Moons ago while watching the Sun with the coelostat at Hansen Planetarium a weather balloon passed right in front of the solar disc. Lots of details could be seen. Even the instrument package was visible. Neat stuff! patrick
Not a reflection of the sun. I saw this thing only a few hundred feet up when first spotted, it had barely been released. The sky was still dark and the sun way below the horizon at 5:05 AM. Whatever I saw had an orange on-board light. It was clearly seen. The only other possibility is if it was illuminated from the ground by a spotlight, but I'm sure I would have seen the beam. I was only about 1/4 mile away from the estimated release position. On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>wrote:
Hi Chuck,
Here are data on this morning's launch:
http://www.calsky.com/?Balloons=&interval=0.125&station=72572&tdt=2456538.96...
I don't think they carry lights but maybe what you saw was the Sun reflecting off the orange equipment hanging below the balloon.
My daughter began texting me from Arizona last night just before sunset. She wanted to know what the super bright object in the northeast was. It was brighter than any star, kind of triangular in shape, and was not moving. I told her that there was nothing in the northeast that was bright, ever. It got dimmer as the sun set and was gone when it got dark. I correctly identified the object, and my diagnosis was verified by images sent to the news station in Phoenix. Then what was it? Here is a link that has the answer. https://www.facebook.com/CBS5AZ?hc_location=timeline You'll have to scroll through a bunch of posts, but you'll see the answer. ________________________________ From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 3:34 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Weather balloons Not a reflection of the sun. I saw this thing only a few hundred feet up when first spotted, it had barely been released. The sky was still dark and the sun way below the horizon at 5:05 AM. Whatever I saw had an orange on-board light. It was clearly seen. The only other possibility is if it was illuminated from the ground by a spotlight, but I'm sure I would have seen the beam. I was only about 1/4 mile away from the estimated release position. On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>wrote:
Hi Chuck,
Here are data on this morning's launch:
http://www.calsky.com/?Balloons=&interval=0.125&station=72572&tdt=2456538.96...
I don't think they carry lights but maybe what you saw was the Sun reflecting off the orange equipment hanging below the balloon.
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Chuck, one of the very interesting presentations made at the rocket club was bytwo professors from Utah State who go out in the Duchesne area and launch weather balloons. I forget the actual class they teach. They get balloons up in the hundred thousand foot area and use ham equipment to transmit telemetry and the like. (I did ask him if they were licensed hands and they answered yes.). It seems that the air above Duchesne is relatively quiet and sometimes they really don't have to travel very far to retrieve them. Sent from my iPad On Sep 3, 2013, at 3:34 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Not a reflection of the sun. I saw this thing only a few hundred feet up when first spotted, it had barely been released. The sky was still dark and the sun way below the horizon at 5:05 AM.
Whatever I saw had an orange on-board light. It was clearly seen. The only other possibility is if it was illuminated from the ground by a spotlight, but I'm sure I would have seen the beam.
participants (8)
-
Brent Watson -
Chuck Hards -
daniel turner -
Erik Hansen -
Jared Smith -
Larry Holmes -
Patrick Wiggins -
Seth Jarvis