Abstract

How much gas does it actually take to lift a payload using a latex weather balloon? This question has many answers depending on the mass of your payload, the size and mass of the balloon, and the type of gas being used to lift the balloon. Guessing the amount of fill for the balloon can either waste gas if the balloon doesn't need as much to lift the load or cause negative effects if the balloon is not filled enough, such as hovering in the jet stream pushing a balloon farther than anticipated. Either way, resources are wasted whether it is gas wasted in unnecessary overfilling or time and effort wasted to recover a wayward balloon. Having a database to calculate the necessary fill for a balloon can save time and money. In addition, the data base gives many atmospheric properties with altitude for helping understand balloon data: Standard Atmospheric temperature, pressure, and density profiles, velocity, coefficient of drag, free lift, gravity, lifting force, drag force, speed of sound, thermal conductivity, kinetic temperature, dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity, mole volume, mean air particle speed, mean collision frequency, and mean free path.

How to Cite:

Ramm, N. A. & Voss, H. D., (2012) “High-Altitude Balloon Atmospheric Database”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2012(1), 163–172. doi: https://doi.org//ahac.8346