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ROCKET-BALLOON-INSTRUMENT [1 record]

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Alphabetical list of terms

Record 1 2010-05-14

English

Subject field(s)
  • Weather Stations and Meteorological Instruments and Equipment
DEF

An inflatable sphere released at apogee from a sounding rocket.

CONT

robin sphere. ... The sphere is inflated by evaporation of a contained liquid on release. A corner reflector is ejected as the sphere inflates, permitting track during descent by a precision radar.

CONT

The PWN-12A is another sounding rocket using ... a dart with a ROBIN (Rocket Balloon Instrument) Inflatable Falling Sphere payload. At an apogee of about 115 km (70 miles), the dart releases a ... metalized mylar balloon ... While it is slowly descending back to earth, the balloon is tracked by a high-precision radar ... on the ground. Minimum tracking altitude is about 30 km (18 miles), where the ambient pressure will cause the balloon to collapse. Using the balloon's known mass and volume, the radar track can be used to calculate atmospheric data like wind speed/direction and air density.

CONT

The other type of meteorological payload that can be used on a meteorological rocket consists of a falling ROBIN sphere that is used when probing the atmosphere to over 100 km altitude. These altitudes are above the normal operating levels for the thermistors aboard the rocketsonde. ... This ROBIN sphere is a spherical shaped balloon constructed of a thin (0.0001 mm thick) radar-reflective mylar material that is inflated with a small charge of inert gas to a known mass and volume. The dart containing the sphere typically reaches an altitude of 115 km where the sphere is deployed and inflated. When the sphere is inflated to super-pressure of approximately 10-12 mb, the sphere will reach a 1 meter (3.3. ft) diameter. When the balloon descends to an altitude of approximately 30 km, the air pressure outside the sphere will become greater than that inside, causing the sphere to collapse.

Key term(s)
  • rocket-balloon instrument
  • falling sphere

French

Domaine(s)
  • Stations, instruments et équipements météorologiques
OBS

catasphère : Dispositif gonflé après avoir été éjecté d'une fusée à haute altitude; ses mouvements sont suivis au cours de sa chute pour obtenir des mesures de la densité de l'air et des vents en altitude.

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Estaciones, instrumentos y equipos meteorológicos
OBS

esfera en caída libre: Dispositivo que se infla después de ser expulsado de un cohete en la atmósfera superior, obteniéndose medidas de la densidad y de los vientos en las capas superiores al seguir sus movimientos durante su caída libre hacia la Tierra.

Key term(s)
  • esfera en caída libre
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