The Automatic Radiosounding of the Atmosphere Service

In the context of atmospheric monitoring activities, the observation of parameters at different altitudes is of primary importance. Ground observations, i.e. data coming from Meteorological Stations are indispensable, but it is with data collected in the third dimension that the general picture of the state of the atmosphere becomes truly complete.

What is a radiosonde?

Weather radiosondes are devices for measuring atmospheric parameters, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, altitude and GPS position, hanging from balloons released into the atmosphere that send data in digital format via radio in the UHF band to ground monitoring stations. All the equipment weighing about 100 grams is disposable, once it reaches a high altitude, over 30 km in the stratosphere, the balloon explodes and the transmitter descends to the ground slowed by a parachute.

Listening to Radiosondes

Radiosondes transmit in the frequency range between 400MHz and 408MHz, depending on the model and the launch center. A normal UHF amateur radio band colinear antenna is sufficient for listening, if you are nearby you can also receive with portable receivers equipped with an original antenna. The radio receiver does not have to be of a special type, a normal amateur radio transceiver or a radio scanner that covers the 400/408MHz frequencies in FM is sufficient to successfully receive radiosondes.

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