Unusual vertical oscillations of a radiosonde

[thumbnail of Miller et al - Oscillating-balloons - Weather v1.3 2026-04-10.docx]
Text
- Accepted Version
· Restricted to Repository staff only

Please see our End User Agreement.

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Miller, C., Lo, C. H. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7661-7080, Burt, S. and Neely, R. R. (2026) Unusual vertical oscillations of a radiosonde. Weather. ISSN 1477-8696 doi: 10.1002/wea.70079 (In Press)

Abstract/Summary

In summer 2023 in southern England, we observed several unusual balloon launches which descended for a few minutes before resuming ascent again. This unusual vertical oscillation was repeated several times in a “roller-coaster”-like pattern. In this article, the behaviour of the balloons is discussed, and we suggest that these events occurred as a result of snow or ice accumulation on the surface of the balloon and payload. In a typical radiosonde launch, such profiles would have been discarded, so we recommend that datalogging operations be adjusted permitting retention of such ascents to avoid loss of potentially valuable sounding data.

Altmetric Badge

Dimensions Badge

Item Type Article
URI https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/129636
Identification Number/DOI 10.1002/wea.70079
Refereed Yes
Divisions Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher Wiley
Download/View statistics View download statistics for this item

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record