UH professor tracking balloon's journey

By Anna Weaver
Advertiser Staff Writer

A University of Hawai'i meteorology professor is part of a team using a "smart balloon" to track air pollution levels in the troposphere. The balloon will have completed a trans-Atlantic flight from Long Island, N.Y., to Europe when it lands in Spain in the next few days.

Dr. Steven Businger of UH has worked with the University of New Hampshire and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in planning and executing the balloon flight. NOAA has been the primary source of money for the project.

Businger says the highlight of this flight is "that this balloon has made it all the way across the Atlantic."

"I was hoping it would (make it)," said Annette Hollingshead, a private contractor who has provided forecasts on the balloon's position four times a day since it was launched. "We're really excited, it's really huge.

"The hope is in the future to send some of these balloons into hurricanes."

The high-tech instrumented balloon is gathering data on ozone concentration levels while following a plume that was released Aug. 3 from Long Island.

"Atmospheric pollution has health effects and climate effects, and both require an understanding of how the air pollution changes with time," Businger said.

The 10-foot-wide balloon uses a Global Positioning System to track its path, and is closely followed by airplanes as well. Researchers communicate with the balloon through satellite phones.

Businger said that a special aspect of the balloon is its ability to control buoyancy and maintain a constant altitude. He added that controlling the balloon is important because it is traveling at the same altitude as some airplanes and is affected by changes in weather. Most balloons travel in the higher, calmer stratosphere.

Reach Anna Weaver at aweaver@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2455.