Sims, David

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University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryMedia Relations Administrative Offices9-21-2006"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built OzoneInstrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico AirDavid SimsFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/newsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For moreinformation, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationSims, David, ""Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air" (2006). UNH Today. 962.https://scholars.unh.edu/news/9629/18/17, 1(06 PM"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico AirPage 1 of 2http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2006/september/ds_092106balloon.cfm@type=n.html "Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone InstrumentProbe Gulf Of Mexico AirContact:  David Sims 603-862-5369Science WriterInstitute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and SpaceSeptember 21, 2006DURHAM, N.H. -- Six “smart” balloons, each carrying a state-of-the-art, miniature ozonesensor designed and built by scientists at the University of New Hampshire, recentlycompleted a series of flights measuring levels of the pollutant in the Houston area and overthe Gulf of Mexico as part of 2006 Texas Air Quality Study II.The balloons – termed “smart” because they allow operators to remotely control their verticalheight to sample different layers of the atmosphere ​– measured the ozone concentration anda number of other meteorological variables while immersed in plumes of urban air.Houston has one of the highest levels of ozone in the U.S., and scientists are trying to betterunderstand how the pollutant is exported from “mega-polluted” areas, such as Houston andMexico City, and what its impact is on the air quality of the Northern Hemisphere.The first smart balloon, which stayed aloft for over three days and traveled more than 2,500kilometers before landing in Florida, encountered ozone levels in excess of 200 parts perbillion in polluted air over the Gulf of Mexico. Such high levels of ozone are consideredunhealthy under guidelines established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.“The balloons provide a very unique platform,” says Robert Talbot, director of the UNH ClimateChange Research Center within the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, wherethe miniature ozone sensor was developed.Adds Talbot, “The real power of the balloons is the continuous observation on spatial scalesthat other platforms can’t do.” For example, a smart balloon, drifting at 10 meters per secondin a polluted plume of air, can make much higher resolution measurements than an aircrafttraveling ten times faster and flying in and out of the plume.The balloons provided a new perspective on the flow and dispersion of pollution from theHouston area, and will help scientists learn how these plumes disperse over the Gulf of Mexicoin particular so that computer models can be improved to better simulate and predict thoseprocesses.Faculty and students from UNH and the University of Hawaii will work in collaboration withNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists in analyzing the dataobtained during the smart balloon flights.The NOAA Air Resources Laboratory Field Research Division, in collaboration with the9/18/17, 1(06 PM"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico AirPage 2 of 2http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2006/september/ds_092106balloon.cfm@type=n.htmlUniversity of Hawaii, developed the smart balloon technology.UNH led the overall balloon project for the summer Texas air quality campaign. Scientists andstudents from UNH also participated in the study by measuring levels of atmospheric nitricacid from NOAA’s Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown and from an 18-story building on theUniversity of Houston campus. UNH graduate students also measured the chemicalcomposition and levels of aerosols in the Houston area.The miniature ozone sensor was first deployed in the summer of 2004 during a massive airquality study called the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport andTransformation or ICARTT.Talbot notes that continued work done by UNH engineers has upgraded the ozone sensor froma first-generation instrument to a “true research-grade precision instrument. The overallquality of the measurement is very high, accurate, and reliable, and the sensor can respond tochanges in ozone very quickly,” Talbot says.The UNH smart balloon work was funded under the Targeted Wind Sensing program while theother measurements made by UNH scientists were done under the university’s AIRMAPprogram. U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has been instrumental in securing funding for bothscientific programs. For more information, visit www.tws.unh.edu and www.airmap.unh.edu.Editors and reporters: A photo is available to download here (right-click and choose "SaveAs"): smartballoon.jpg (2MB)Caption: Holding a smart balloon prior to one of six balloon launches in the 2006 Texas AirQuality Study (TexAQS) II are, left to right, John Porter and Jonathan Tytell of the Universityof Hawaii, and Randy Johnson of NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory Field Research Division.The UNH miniature ozone sensor is contained inside the balloon.

Smart  Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air

University of New Hampshire

University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository
Media Relations Administrative Offices
9-21-2006
"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone
Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air
David Sims
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/news
This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has
been accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more
information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.
Recommended Citation
Sims, David, ""Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air" (2006). UNH Today. 962.
https://scholars.unh.edu/news/962
9/18/17, 1(06 PM"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air
Page 1 of 2http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2006/september/ds_092106balloon.cfm@type=n.html
 
"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument
Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air
Contact:  David Sims 
603-862-5369
Science Writer
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space
September 21, 2006
DURHAM, N.H. -- Six “smart” balloons, each carrying a state-of-the-art, miniature ozone
sensor designed and built by scientists at the University of New Hampshire, recently
completed a series of flights measuring levels of the pollutant in the Houston area and over
the Gulf of Mexico as part of 2006 Texas Air Quality Study II.
The balloons – termed “smart” because they allow operators to remotely control their vertical
height to sample different layers of the atmosphere ​– measured the ozone concentration and
a number of other meteorological variables while immersed in plumes of urban air.
Houston has one of the highest levels of ozone in the U.S., and scientists are trying to better
understand how the pollutant is exported from “mega-polluted” areas, such as Houston and
Mexico City, and what its impact is on the air quality of the Northern Hemisphere.
The first smart balloon, which stayed aloft for over three days and traveled more than 2,500
kilometers before landing in Florida, encountered ozone levels in excess of 200 parts per
billion in polluted air over the Gulf of Mexico. Such high levels of ozone are considered
unhealthy under guidelines established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“The balloons provide a very unique platform,” says Robert Talbot, director of the UNH Climate
Change Research Center within the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, where
the miniature ozone sensor was developed.
Adds Talbot, “The real power of the balloons is the continuous observation on spatial scales
that other platforms can’t do.” For example, a smart balloon, drifting at 10 meters per second
in a polluted plume of air, can make much higher resolution measurements than an aircraft
traveling ten times faster and flying in and out of the plume.
The balloons provided a new perspective on the flow and dispersion of pollution from the
Houston area, and will help scientists learn how these plumes disperse over the Gulf of Mexico
in particular so that computer models can be improved to better simulate and predict those
processes.
Faculty and students from UNH and the University of Hawaii will work in collaboration with
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists in analyzing the data
obtained during the smart balloon flights.
The NOAA Air Resources Laboratory Field Research Division, in collaboration with the
9/18/17, 1(06 PM"Smart" Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air
Page 2 of 2http://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2006/september/ds_092106balloon.cfm@type=n.html
University of Hawaii, developed the smart balloon technology.
UNH led the overall balloon project for the summer Texas air quality campaign. Scientists and
students from UNH also participated in the study by measuring levels of atmospheric nitric
acid from NOAA’s Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown and from an 18-story building on the
University of Houston campus. UNH graduate students also measured the chemical
composition and levels of aerosols in the Houston area.
The miniature ozone sensor was first deployed in the summer of 2004 during a massive air
quality study called the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and
Transformation or ICARTT.
Talbot notes that continued work done by UNH engineers has upgraded the ozone sensor from
a first-generation instrument to a “true research-grade precision instrument. The overall
quality of the measurement is very high, accurate, and reliable, and the sensor can respond to
changes in ozone very quickly,” Talbot says.
The UNH smart balloon work was funded under the Targeted Wind Sensing program while the
other measurements made by UNH scientists were done under the university’s AIRMAP
program. U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has been instrumental in securing funding for both
scientific programs. For more information, visit www.tws.unh.edu and www.airmap.unh.edu.
Editors and reporters: A photo is available to download here (right-click and choose "Save
As"): smartballoon.jpg (2MB)
Caption: Holding a smart balloon prior to one of six balloon launches in the 2006 Texas Air
Quality Study (TexAQS) II are, left to right, John Porter and Jonathan Tytell of the University
of Hawaii, and Randy Johnson of NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory Field Research Division.
The UNH miniature ozone sensor is contained inside the balloon.


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Smart Balloons Carrying UNH-Built Ozone Instrument Probe Gulf Of Mexico Air

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