COBALD

Developed by ETH Zurich

Balloon launched on 1/30/2013, from Meteorological Research Institute, Baurú, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Purpose of the flight and payload description

COBALD is a lightweight backscatter sonde developed at ETH Zurich. With a total weight of approximately 550 g including batteries, the instrument can be flown on operational weather balloons. COBALD measures molecular, aerosol and cloud particle backscatter in the atmosphere from the ground to the level of balloon burst. Two LEDs with 250 mW optical power each emit light at wavelengths of 455 and 870 nm. To register the backscattered light, a photodiode is placed between the LEDs, and the associated optics establishes an overlap region at distances larger than 0.5 m in front of the instrument. So far, the instrument is designed for applications during night-time only as solar radiation saturates the detector. The molecular number density is determined from temperature and pressure recorded simultaneously by the hosting radiosonde.

Details of the balloon flight

Balloon launched on: 1/30/2013
Launch site: Meteorological Research Institute, Baurú, Sao Paulo, Brazil  
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Weather Balloon  
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 1/26/2013
Campaign: TRO-PICO  

This flight was part of the TRO-Pico campaign performed in Brazil between 2012 and 2013. It aims at studying deep convection in the tropics and more precisely, the impact of overshooting convection in the lower stratosphere on the stratospheric water budget, from the local to the continental scale.

External references

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