A new rocketsonde for upper-air atmospheric measurements

Summary form only given: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) has developed a new rocket-launched rawinsonde system that measures traditional parameters including temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, and GPS position. This new “rocketsonde” system was designed specifically for the purpose of deriving vertical profiles of modified refractivity and wind conditions within the lower several thousand meters of the atmosphere.The system is similar to one that was commercially available up until the mid-2000´s, but with additional capabilities not possible with the older system, including use of open-source hardware and software, additional analog and digital channels, improved two-way communications and GPS. It was designed to integrate with the existing JHU/APL Automated Environmental Assessment System (AEAS) that has been used for numerous test events since 2004. The AEAS provides continuous shipboard measurements in the marine layer to characterize the evaporation duct, while the rocketsonde provides upper-air measurements to characterize subrefraction, surface ducting and elevated ducting, if present. In this way the data from both the existing AEAS hardware and the new rocketsonde system can be used to provide a complete assessment of the refractive environment for use in radio frequency (RF) propagation models, which in turn is used in RF system performance models. The rocketsonde allows for easier deployment than balloon-borne sensors in high winds and is faster to deploy. Since the data are collected on descent, the rocketsonde also provides more accurate measurements in the surface layer, away from the effects of the ship´s air wake - which can be significant for larger vessels. Additionally, the rocketsonde sensor package weighs approximately one quarter as much as a typical radiosonde, making it a more viable payload for a UAV. This presentation will provide an overview of the new rocketsonde syst- m and comparisons with commercially available radiosondes and other JHU/APL-developed sensors, including the Helicopter Atmospheric Profiling System (HAPS).