Zhuzhou Institute’s Sounding Balloon Assists China with First Ozone Detection in Typhoon

Recently, the field observation team of Shanghai Typhoon Institute (STI) under China Meteorological Administration carried out an eye-catching national “action” of releasing a GPS sounding balloon in the gale within the typhoon circulation along the Zhoushan coast. This was the first time for China to monitor stratospheric ozone during a typhoon. To our pride, the balloon is a 1,600g sounding balloon produced by Zhuzhou Institute. Zhuzhou Institute’s sounding balloon challenged the extreme weather again after it was successfully released at the low temperature of -70℃ in Antarctica at the beginning of the year.

The typhoon landed on the day when the balloon was launched. At the released location, the storm or even more violent wind had an average speed of 24.5-32.6 meters per second. Its power could be so destructive to wreck trees and houses. The inflated sounding balloon was bigger than a small truck, with a thickness of only about 0.1mm.

According to relevant experts from the STI, compared with radars and satellites, a sounding balloon is more direct and accurate, almost serving the most reliable means to detect meteorological elements in the atmosphere. The sounding balloon would detect the air pressure, temperature, and relative humidity in the center of the typhoon. It has enabled people to have a sound understanding of the influence of typhoon circulation on ozone concentration distribution, providing important data to study the exchange of stratospheric material and energy in a typhoon.