Innovative mini ultralight radiosondes to track Lagrangian turbulence fluctuations within warm clouds: electronic design

TL;DR

This paper introduces innovative ultra-light radioprobes designed to measure small-scale turbulence within warm clouds, providing new in-situ data crucial for understanding cloud dynamics and improving weather and climate models.

Contribution

Development of a compact, lightweight electronic system for in-situ turbulence measurement in clouds, enabling systematic data collection of micro-scale atmospheric fluctuations.

Findings

Prototypes are about 30 cm in diameter and weigh 20 g.

Devices successfully measure and transmit turbulence data in laboratory and field tests.

Integration of multiple probes enhances turbulence monitoring accuracy.

Abstract

Characterization of cloud properties remains a challenging task for weather forecasting and climate modelling as cloud properties depend on interdependent natural processes at micro and macro scales. Turbulence plays an important role in particle dynamics inside clouds; however, turbulence mechanisms are not yet fully understood partly due to the difficulty of measuring clouds at the smallest scales. To address these knowledge gaps, an experimental method for measuring the influence of fine-scale turbulence in cloud formation in-situ and producing an in-field cloud Lagrangian dataset is being developed by means of innovative ultra-light radioprobes. This paper presents the electronic system design along with the obtained results from laboratory and field experiments regarding these compact (diameter about 30 cm), light-weight (about 20 g), and expendable devices designed to passively float and track small-scale turbulence fluctuations inside warm clouds. The fully customized mini radioprobe board (5 cm x 5 cm) embeds sensors to measure local fluctuations and transmit data to the ground in near real-time. The tests confirm that the newly developed probes perform well providing accurate information about atmospheric variables, referenced in space. The integration of multiple radioprobes allows for a systematic and accurate monitoring of atmospheric turbulence and its impact on cloud formation.