Low cost radiosonde and radiosounding system

• Grant number: 19/00921-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: May 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Measurements, Instrumentation
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Angelo Alves
• Grantee: Mauro Angelo Alves
• Company: Skyhigh Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Ltda
• CNAE: Atividades profissionais, científicas e técnicas não especificadas anteriormente ; Educação superior - pós-graduação e extensão
• City: São José dos Campos
• Associated researchers: Alexandre Lyra Alves ; Rogerio Acioli Lopes Alves
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/09344-8 - Low cost radiosonde and radiosounding system, BP.PIPE

Abstract

The radiosonde is an instrument of fundamental importance for the understanding of atmospheric phenomena at different distance scales and in the elaboration of models of meteorological and climatic forecasting. Radiosondes are carried to heights of 30 km or more by weather balloons. There are currently about 1300 radiosonding stations at various points on the surface of the planet, of which about 850 conduct radiosoundings twice a day (0 h and 12 h UTC), which means that more than 620,000 radiosondes are launched annually. In countries with less resources, there is still an under-sampling of the atmosphere due to the high costs of long-term radiosonde operations. Recently, in several countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Russia, the number of radiosondes in several launch stations has been reduced to a single daily launch due to the high cost of operation. Thus, this project proposes the development of a simplified and low cost radiosonde system, incorporating radiosonde, telemetry (data transmission and reception) and sensors, with the use of electronic components available in the market, in order to reduce the cost of such operations. and simplify the operation and acquisition of data in radiosoundings. Software for data transmission and reception, SD card data storage, visualization of results in real time in a computer and smartphone will also be developed. In this project, we hope to demonstrate the technical and scientific feasibility of a low-cost radiosonde model. A simple cost estimate shows that it is possible to significantly reduce (at least 50%) the price of each radiosonde. A search for precedence in the patent search platform of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) revealed that there is no patent related to radiosonde or radiosonde in Brazil. As the radiosonding system will be an original design and developed with components available on the market, there will be no conflicts regarding industrial property both nationally and internationally. There is a market of tens of millions of dollars annually in the sale of radiosonde and radiosonde systems. The construction of a low cost model is something that would be well received by the community that uses these instruments. Atmospheric monitoring, due to climatic and anthropogenic impacts, is an activity that will require more resources both for the types of sensors used and also for the greater spatial coverage and frequency of radiosoundings. (AU)