Editing Radiosonde (section)

== History ==
[[File:PSM V53 D061 Train of tandem kites bearing a meteorograph.png|thumb|upright|left|Kites used to fly a meteograph]]
[[File:PSM V53 D070 Meteorograph.jpg|thumb|upright|Meteograph used by the US Weather Bureau in 1898]]
[[File:Wea01108 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|upright|U.S. Bureau of Standards personnel launch radiosonde near Washington, DC in 1936]]
[[File:Launching radiosonde 1943.jpg|thumb|upright|US sailors launching a radiosonde during World War 2]]

The first flights of aerological instruments were done in the second half of the 19th century with kites and [[Thermo-hygrograph|meteographs]], a recording device measuring pressure and temperature that would be recovered after the experiment. This proved difficult because the kites were linked to the ground and were very difficult to manoeuvre in gusty conditions. Furthermore, the sounding was limited to low altitudes because of the link to the ground.

[[Gustave Hermite]] and [[Georges Besançon]], from France, were the first in 1892 to use a balloon to fly the meteograph. In 1898, [[Léon Teisserenc de Bort]] organized at the ''Observatoire de Météorologie Dynamique de [[Trappes]]'' the first regular daily use of these balloons. Data from these launches showed that the temperature lowered with height up to a certain altitude, which varied with the season, and then stabilized above this altitude. De Bort's discovery of the [[tropopause]] and [[stratosphere]] was announced in 1902 at the French Academy of Sciences.<ref name="MF2">{{cite web
|url=http://www.meteo.fr/meteonet/decouvr/dossier/cnam/fr/s_rub_4_6.htm
|work=Découvrir : Mesurer l’atmosphère
|title=Radiosondage
|publisher=[[Météo-France]]
|access-date=2008-06-30
|language=fr
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207115202/http://www.meteo.fr/meteonet/decouvr/dossier/cnam/fr/s_rub_4_6.htm
|archive-date=2006-12-07
}}</ref> Other researchers, like [[Richard Aßmann]] and [[William Henry Dines]], were working at the same times with similar instruments.

In 1924, Colonel William Blaire in the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|U.S. Signal Corps]] did the first primitive experiments with weather measurements from balloon, making use of the temperature dependence of radio circuits. The first true radiosonde that sent precise encoded telemetry from weather sensors was invented in France by {{Interlanguage link|Robert Bureau|fr}}. Bureau coined the name "radiosonde" and flew the first instrument on January 7, 1929.<ref name="MF2"/><ref name="MF3">{{cite web
|url=http://www.meteo.fr/meteonet/decouvr/a-z/html/224_curieux.htm
|work=La météo de A à Z > Définition
|title=Bureau (Robert)
|publisher=[[Météo-France]]
|access-date=2008-06-30
|language=fr
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029230225/http://www.meteo.fr/meteonet/decouvr/a-z/html/224_curieux.htm
|archive-date=2007-10-29
}}</ref> Developed independently a year later, [[Pavel Molchanov]] flew a radiosonde on January 30, 1930. Molchanov's design became a popular standard because of its simplicity and because it converted sensor readings to [[Morse code]], making it easy to use without special equipment or training.<ref name="ssht">DuBois, Multhauf and Ziegler, "The Invention and Development of the Radiosonde", ''Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology'', No. 53, 2002.</ref>

Working with a modified Molchanov sonde, Sergey Vernov was the first to use radiosondes to perform cosmic ray readings at high altitude. On April 1, 1935, he took measurements up to {{convert|13.6|km|abbr=on}} using a pair of [[Geiger counter]]s in an anti-coincidence circuit to avoid counting secondary ray showers.<ref name="ssht"/><ref>Vernoff, S. "Radio-Transmission of Cosmic Ray Data from the Stratosphere", ''Nature'', June 29, 1935.</ref> This became an important technique in the field, and Vernov flew his radiosondes on land and sea over the next few years, measuring the radiation's latitude dependence caused by the [[Earth's magnetic field]].

In 1936, the U.S. Navy assigned the [[U.S. Bureau of Standards|U.S. Bureau of Standards (NBS)]] to develop an official radiosonde for the Navy to use.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/2453/SSHT-0053_Lo_res.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|title=The Invention and Development of the Radiosonde, with a Catalog of Upper-Atmospheric Telemetering Probes in the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution|last1=DuBois|first1=John|date=2002|access-date=July 13, 2018|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|last2=Multhauf|first2=Robert|last3=Ziegler|first3=Charles}}</ref> The NBS gave the project to [[Harry Diamond (engineer)|Harry Diamond]], who had previously worked on radio navigation and invented a blind landing system for airplanes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gillmor|first=Stewart|date=December 26, 1989|title=Seventy Years of Radio Science, Technology, Standards, and Measurement at the National Bureau of Standards|journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union|volume=70|issue=52|pages=1571|doi=10.1029/89EO00403|bibcode=1989EOSTr..70.1571G}}</ref> The organization led by Diamond eventually (in 1992) became a part of the [[United States Army Research Laboratory|U.S. Army Research Laboratory]]. In 1937, Diamond, along with his associates Francis Dunmore and Wilbur Hinmann, Jr., created a radiosonde that employed audio-frequency subcarrier modulation with the help of a resistance-capacity relaxation oscillator. In addition, this NBS radiosonde was capable of measuring temperature and humidity at higher altitudes than conventional radiosondes at the time due to the use of electric sensors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=E.T.|date=September 1941|title=The radiosonde: The stratosphere laboratory|journal=Journal of the Franklin Institute|volume=232|issue=3|pages=217–238|doi=10.1016/S0016-0032(41)90950-X}}</ref>

In 1938, Diamond developed the first ground receiver for the radiosonde, which prompted the first service use of the NBS radiosondes in the Navy. Then in 1939, Diamond and his colleagues developed a ground-based radiosonde called the “remote weather station,” which allowed them to automatically collect weather data in remote and inhospitable locations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrizEY2BWOoC&pg=PA42|title=A Century of Excellence in Measurements, Standards, and Technology|last=Lide|first=David|publisher=CRC Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8493-1247-2|page=42}}</ref> By 1940, the NBS radiosonde system included a pressure drive, which measured temperature and humidity as functions of pressure.<ref name=":0" /> It also gathered data on cloud thickness and light intensity in the atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16009coll19/id/1458/rec/11|title=NBS radio meteorographs :: Historic Photographs Collection|website=nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org|access-date=2018-07-13}}</ref> Due to this and other improvements in cost (about $25), weight (> 1 kilogram), and accuracy, hundreds of thousands of NBS-style radiosondes were produced nationwide for research purposes, and the apparatus was officially adopted by the U.S. Weather Bureau.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Diamond was given the Washington Academy of Sciences Engineering Award in 1940 and the IRE Fellow Award (which was later renamed the Harry Diamond Memorial Award) in 1943 for his contributions to radio-meteorology.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ieeeusa.org/volunteers/awards-recognition/technical-achievement-awards/harry-diamond-award/harry-diamond-award-recipients/|title=Harry Diamond Memorial Award - Past Recipients - IEEE-USA|website=ieeeusa.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-13|archive-date=2018-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713175908/https://ieeeusa.org/volunteers/awards-recognition/technical-achievement-awards/harry-diamond-award/harry-diamond-award-recipients/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The expansion of economically important government [[weather forecasting]] services during the 1930s and their increasing need for data motivated many nations to begin regular radiosonde observation programs

In 1985, as part of the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Vega program]], the two [[Venus]] probes, [[Vega 1]] and [[Vega 2]], each dropped a radiosonde into the [[atmosphere of Venus]]. The sondes were tracked for two days.

Although modern [[remote sensing]] by satellites, aircraft and ground sensors is an increasing source of atmospheric data, none of these systems can match the vertical resolution ({{convert|30|m|abbr=on}} or less) and altitude coverage ({{convert|30|km|abbr=on}}) of radiosonde observations, so they remain essential to modern meteorology.<ref name="NOAA"/>

Although hundreds of radiosondes are launched worldwide each day year-round, fatalities  attributed to  radiosondes are rare. The first known example was the electrocution of a lineman in the United States who was attempting to free a radiosonde from high-tension power lines in 1943.<ref>"Linemen Cautioned About Disengaging Radiosonde," Electrical World, 15 May 1943</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://radiosondemuseum.com/wp-content/gallery/mags/1943-radiosonde-fatality.jpg |title = 1943-radiosonde-fatality.JPG (758x1280 pixels) |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208172229/http://radiosondemuseum.com/wp-content/gallery/mags/1943-radiosonde-fatality.jpg |archive-date=8 February 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1970, an [[Antonov 24]] operating [[Aeroflot Flight 1661]] suffered a loss of control after striking a radiosonde in flight resulting in the death of all 45 people on board.