7 July 2011 Renfroe Middle School Reaches The Stratosphere

Well, I had an amazing evening. After a rough day of dishes and then a quick round of snow golf with Brandon, Quentin, Lance and Hannah, we went to the Science Observation Building to help launch a weather balloon!

I can now officially say that Renfroe Middle School has made its mark on the Greenland Ice Sheet and has blasted off to the stratosphere.

In the photo above, you should be able to spot an orange parachute and a small sensor just below my right hand. As the balloon rises, the sensor continuously takes measurements of temperature, pressure, and humidity and sends this information back to a computer on the ground.

Scientists get a snapshot of temperature, pressure, and humidity in the troposphere and much of the stratosphere over the Greenland Ice Sheet by launching these weather balloons.

The balloon takes about 1½ hours to reach its highest point before popping. It can reach heights of over 25 km above sea level.

Once the balloon pops, the shredded balloon and the sensor fall back to Earth with the help with the parachute.

These balloons are launched twice a day (once at 9:15 in the morning and again at 9:15 in the evening).

What do you think happens to the temperature of the air as the balloon rises?

What do you think happens to the air pressure as the balloon rises?

What do you think happens to the amount of water vapor in the air as the balloon rises?

Go to the “Ask the Team” section of our virtual base camp to let us know what you think.

Key Terms:

Did you know that the Earth’s atmosphere has many layers? Our weather balloon traveled through two of them: the troposphere and part of the stratosphere.

The troposphere is the part of the Earth’s atmosphere that starts at the ground and goes up about 15 kilometers (or 9 miles). Almost all of our weather happens in this area.

The stratosphere is the part of the Earth’s atmosphere that starts just above the troposphere and extends up to 50 kilometers (or 31 miles).