SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF JOINT OZONESONDE LAUNCHES: AN NSF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECT

A grant from the National Science Foundation (NFS) funded a three year atmospheric science program known as the Minority University Consortium for Earth and Space Science (MUCESS) that supports undergraduate research programs devoted to studying ozone profiles. MUCESS institutions are represented by the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (MEC), and South Carolina State University (SCSU). The primary strength of the program lies in the fact that it provides a venue for students from the participating minority institutions to build bridges of dialogue and strengthen research capabilities. A secondary strength of MUCESS is that the collaborative institutions are widely separated geographically but they have excellent communications and the ability to coordinate launches and support annual workshops.

MUCESS supported a series of ozonesonde launches from multiple sites between April and July 2009. The purpose of the launches was to study atmospheric ozone profiles, at varying locations, using balloon and ozone technology. A payload consisting of an ozonesonde, radiosonde, and GPS receiver was attached to a 600 gram weather balloon which was then carried up to the stratosphere. The onboard instrumentation telemetrically transmitted data to the ground receiver providing real-time information including partial pressure and ozone concentrations for both the troposphere and stratosphere. The students analyzed the data and critically interpreted the troposphere fluidity, the periodic downward mixing of stratospheric ozone with tropospheric ozone, the effects of weather on ground level ozone, the formation of pockets of ozone in the troposphere, and the impact of anthropogenic pollutants on the troposphere. The results of this series of launches will be discussed in our poster. We will also discuss the problems and successes resulting from coordinated joint launches when the locations are widely separated geographically.