Swarmsonde enables new and exciting projects


The video shows a severe weather research team in the US operating the two-balloon Windsond system “Swarmsonde” in heavy winds. As you can see, the sondes are launched directly from a car, illustrating the great portability of the small size Windsond system.

The research team’s ambition is to get close to, and in front of a tornado, in the inflow region, and launch Swarmsonde radiosondes. The team will get much closer to tornadoes than other groups in order to get measurements in the tornado at low altitudes. The sondes will become neutrally buoyant at about 100-200 m AGL and float toward the tornado vortex. Launching from a car this close to tornadoes is only made possible using the Windsond system due to the equipment’s advantageous and unique size.

How does Swarmsonde work? 
When the sonde is released from the ground it is attached to two balloons instead of one. At a user-defined altitude, one balloon is automatically cut off from the sonde. The balloon that still is attached to the sonde makes it neutrally buoyant, giving measurements at the preferred altitude for a longer time. 

More information on Swarmsonde: http://sparvembedded.com/Swarmsonde_flyer_v1.pdf

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