The Photo Gallery
Room 1: Preparation for
a Mobile Balloon Launch
Please note: These images are copyrighted. They are placed
here for your viewing enjoyment.
Contact us if you have
some other use planned for them.
Just scroll down, or you can click on one of the choices in the
table to view a photo.
National Severe Storms Laboratory's mobile
laboratory "NSSL1", circa 1994.
Equipment on the van top includes (from left to right): downward facing
electric field mill, air conditioner (for inside the vehicle), flood
lights, satellite receiver for time signal, three data receiving antennae,
pan/tilt video camera, antenna for LORAN navigation, anemometer for windspeed
and direction, and S-shaped probe with shielded temperature and humidity
sensors. Inside the van are the various receiving and communication
equipment, as well as seats for five people.
Wall cloud of a supercell thunderstorm.
Texas, 1994.
This is a typical position for us to launch balloons from when attempting
to make updraft soundings in supercells. Tornadoes can develop beneath
the wall cloud, which is at the base of the rotating mesocyclone and updraft
of the supercell.
Attaching the parachute to the balloon.
Texas, 1994.
The balloon, inside the yellow protective launch
tube, is being anchored by two crew members (here, Tony Perez and
Monte Bateman), while Dave Rust clips a small parachute to the balloon's
tail. The parachute slows the descent of the instruments to the ground
after the balloon bursts above the cloud top. The radiosonde, which
will be attached below the parachute, hangs on the white pole (on the left).
Preparing the instruments. Texas, 1994.
Tom Marshall, far left, coordinates the arrangement of the instrument train
before it is attached to the balloon. The electric field meter is
shown on the right, held by Maribeth Stolzenburg. On the ground in
the center Monte Bateman is preparing an instrument that measures the charge
and size of raindrops.
Starting the electric field meter spinning.
Texas, 1994.
The instrument train is attached to the balloon, and the crew is nearly
ready. (Crew members shown, from the right, are Monte Bateman, Tony
Perez, Ken Eack, Dave Rust, Maribeth Stolzenburg, and Tom Marshall; Megan
Maddox took the photograph.) The final step in instrument preparation
is to start the electric field meter spinning; this is being done by Tom
Marshall at the far left of the photo above.
All ready for balloon launch! Texas,
1994.
In the last moment before the balloon is launched, the launch director
checks the wind and balloon alignment. The white pole holding the
radiosonde will be taken down, and then one of the blue strips (of Velcro)
will be pulled to open the launch tube and release the balloon.
Click here to view the rest of the sequence
of photos from a balloon launch in Room 2 of the Gallery.
Please note: These images are copyrighted. They are placed
here for your viewing enjoyment.
Contact us if you have some other use planned for them.
Last update 11 January 2000. Maribeth
Stolzenburg (mstolzen@phy.olemiss.edu)
Copyright
© 2000 The University of Mississippi. All rights reserved.