Validation and traceability of multi-parameter miniaturized radiosondes for environmental observations

Abstract

The aim of the work is to design and develop light (less then 20 gr), expendable radioprobes to study complex micro-physical and chemical processes inside warm clouds. This includes the tracking of turbulent, both saturated and unsaturated, air parcels. With this new kind of radiosonde, we thus aim to obtain Lagrangian statistics of the intense turbulence inside warm clouds and of the lower intensity turbulence typical of the air surrounding them. The radiosonde is made of the radioprobe (the electronic board) attached to a biodegradable balloon filled with a mixture of helium and air. The system is able to float inside/into clouds for a time span of the order of a few hours and measure fluctuations of air temperature, pressure, humidity position, velocity and acceleration along with its own trajectory which Preliminary in-field experiments were carried out with a single and multiple radiosondes in different environments. Sensor readings are validated by comparison with reference values provided by INRIM traceable instrumentation and/or ARPA (Piemonte) and OAvdA nearby meteorological stations. The last two experiments, INRIM, September 29, 2021 and OAVdA, February 10, 2022, addressed the possibility to implement a distance neighbor graph algorithm (Richardson LF -1926) conceived for turbulent dispersion analysis in the atmosphere and which, actually, has not been yet realized in the context of in-field atmospheric observations.