Weather Balloon Photos

Scientist launching weather balloon (left) and weather balloon collecting data (right)

UCAR

Scientists around the globe launch hundreds of weather balloons daily to measure conditions in Earth's atmosphere at various altitudes. On the left, a scientist releases a balloon. On the right, an instrument package called a sonde dangles beneath a balloon in flight. A radio transmitter in the sonde relays back temperature, humidity, wind and air pressure data.