ABRES Pretest Atmospheric Measurements.
Abstract
Measurements of atmospheric parameters were obtained by utilizing inflatable falling sphere sensors. A series of these spheres were launched on 4 separate days. The first three series consisted of measurements from paired soundings and the last series consisted of four soundings made over a period of approximately 3 hours. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric density between the altitudes of 60 and 90 km utilizing the operational inflatable falling sphere system and determine if this type of system would be capable of providing atmospheric data in support of reentry missions. Results from these series of soundings indicate that in most cases density variations did not exceed 4%, within periods varying from less than an hour to approximately 3 hours. A portion of the density variation can be ascribed to instrumentation and system errors, which were calculated to be 2% over most of the altitude range. These results indicate that the atmospheric density variation in most cases was no more than 2% during these measurements. However, in the last series of launches, data were obtained which indicated large changes in atmospheric structure occurring at about 85 km. These changes were observed in the density, temperature, and wind measurements and may be the result of an internal atmospheric gravity wave.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA055285
Entities
People
- Bruce W. Kennedy
- Robert O. Olsen
Organizations
- Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory