Abstract :
Lightweight radio transmitting equipment, carried aloft by balloons, is being used to obtain remote indications of meteorological elements, from the stratosphere. Such equipment also makes possible periodic observations from unattended stations in remote locations. In the past few years there has been increasing application of radio to the extension of the geographical boundaries within which routine weather observations may be made. Heretofore, weather observations were limited to those which could be obtained by human observers near the weather instruments. The use of special measuring devices which automatically translate the variations of the meteorological elements to be measured into corresponding radio signal variations has removed many of the practical limitations. Measurements may be obtained from any point where it is possible to locate the measuring and auxiliary equipment, and they may be recorded (automatically, if desired) at any convenient point within radio contact of the measuring point. Thus, upper-air observations may be obtained economically well into the stratosphere by sending aloft, attached to small balloons, meteorological instruments with associated miniature radio transmitting equipment. Also, periodic observations may be had from isolated locations such as mountain peaks, small islands, floating buoys, and the like, where unattended equipment may be serviced at infrequent intervals but where it would not be practicable to maintain an observation staff. The government´s meteorological services are already making extensive use of the balloon-carried equipment (radio sondes), daily upper-air observations being obtained at a large number of land stations in continental United States, Alaska, and the Caribbean, and at shipboard stations in the Atlantic and Pacific. The use of automatic weather stations at remote isolated locations is just beginning, but already quite a number of installations are in project.
