High-Flying Balloons Unveil Secrets of Space Weather Radiation

The Met Office has begun a new project to improve how we understand space weather by launching weather balloons equipped with radiation sensors. These balloons are designed to travel over 100,000 feet above the ground, which is much higher than commercial airplanes usually fly. The first balloon was launched from Camborne in Cornwall, and another from Lerwick in Shetland. The sensors attached to the balloons were developed by the University of Surrey Space Centre, and they started collecting live data about radiation levels in the atmosphere as soon as they were released.

The main goal of this project is to compare the radiation readings from the balloons with those taken by ground-based equipment. Earlier this year, the Met Office installed new monitoring devices at Camborne to measure radiation at ground level. By comparing the data from both the ground and the high-altitude balloons, scientists hope to learn how radiation changes as you move up through the atmosphere. Krista Hammond, a senior space weather manager at the Met Office, explained that space weather monitoring is still a very new field compared to regular weather forecasting. She believes that this project will be a big step forward in understanding how space weather events affect radiation levels in the Earth's atmosphere. This information is especially important for industries like aviation and energy, which can be affected by changes in space weather.

Professor Keith Ryden, who leads the Surrey Space Centre, said that the new sensors are very compact and lightweight. They are based on technology that has been used on aircraft for many years. In fact, the first instrument from the Surrey Space Centre flew on the Concorde in the 1980s and recorded several space weather events. The new system is even lighter and designed for quick balloon launches, allowing it to reach altitudes more than twice as high as typical commercial flights. This gives scientists a new way to track radiation levels throughout the atmosphere. In addition to the UK launches, a third balloon was sent up in The Netherlands by their national weather service. All of these efforts are helping scientists gather more information about space weather and its effects on our planet.