Abstract

High-altitude balloons represent an ideal way to engage students (middle school –university) in the study of the vertical structure of our atmosphere. Two of the most measured quantities are pressure and temperature as they have very predictable characteristics as altitude changes.While these variables are easily measured with readily available commercial products, a major drawback to these devices is that they operate individually and log their data via time. To relate this information to altitude requires computation of altitude from the pressure data or the use of a GPS to acquire altitude data. The end result is a series of independent measurements, each typically in a different time base, which makes the analysis of how temperature and pressure changes versus altitude difficult. While the university student may find the exercise of interpolating the different data sets onto the same time base stimulating so that pressure/temperature can be plotted directly versus altitude, middle or high school students typically don’t possess these skills. A simple solution to this problem is to have a data logger that simultaneously records all of the data.We present here a module based on the ATMega32A microcontroller that contains an on-board GPS system and sensor inputs for the measurement of temperature, pressure, and outputs from other sensors. The module is flight compatible, and the data output is inherently all on the same time base which facilitates the examination of how temperature, pressure, and other experimental variables change as a function of altitude.

How to Cite:

Sorenson, S. & Little, N., (2011) “Atmospheric Profiling Sensing Module”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2011(1). doi: https://doi.org//ahac.8131