Improved Smart Balloon To Better Characterize Hurricane Boundary-Layer Inflow

The NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Field Research Division, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii have made improvements to the smart balloon that will make this platform more suitable for hurricane research. The 10 foot balloon shell has been redesigned to allow the transponder and sensors to reside inside the balloon shell to help protect them from turbulence and rain. The temperature and relative humidity sensors are housed in a radiation shield and are aspirated to increase accuracy. A rain gage has been added to provide information on the precipitation rate as the balloon moves through rain bands within the hurricane. Satellite communications capability has been added to allow continuous monitoring of the balloon position and sensor data without an aircraft in the area to gather or relay the data. An infrared temperature sensor has also been added to provide remote sea surface temperature data.

The improved smart balloons will be deployed as a part of a Lagrangian experimental strategy to better characterize the evolution of the energy content of the marine boundary-layer inflow to a hurricane and its relationship with hurricane intensity changes. This effort will be accomplished in cooperation with reconnaissance missions flown by the NOAA Hurricane Research Division.