Up, up and away ... for the sake of science: Weather balloon launches in Yuba County capture storm information
Dec. 20—The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes in partnership with Yuba Water Agency launched a series of weather balloons during this past weekend's storm front to gather important data.
These releases started on Saturday and continued through early Tuesday morning, launching approximately every three hours from a storage facility off Kibbe Road in Marysville.
"It's pretty cool to be partnering with such a prestigious organization, and they're helping us really get the data we need which is then used to rewrite our water control manual for Bullards (Bar Reservoir) so we will be better able to make release decisions based on weather forecasts," said DeDe Cordell, Yuba Water's communications manager.
The weather balloon launches were primarily manned by Sarah Burnett and Ricardo Batista Vilela, who took shifts throughout a 72-hour period.
About an hour prior to each launch, these workers began calibrating sensors and tracking devices. Next, a large rubber balloon was filled with helium until it became buoyant enough to lift the attached equipment. When released, these balloons can reach altitudes of 25,000 meters before popping. A small parachute attached to the base allows the sensor to be "caught" after the balloon pops, slowing its descent and allowing for additional data collection.
"This way we can measure the atmospheric variables when it goes up and when it goes down," said Vilela. "Basically what we want is to measure temperature, humidity, and pressure, and the movement of the balloon tells us about the wind speed."
These releases gain valuable information that help give scientists a better understanding of how storm systems work and, in this case, a more detailed analysis of atmospheric rivers.
"While atmospheric rivers are pretty different from rivers of liquid water down on the ground, they transport enough water to deserve their moniker as rivers," according to the United States Geological Survey. "Studies of atmospheric rivers over the Pacific have found that they transport water vapor at a rate equal to seven to 15 times the average daily discharge of the Mississippi River. They can be hundreds to thousands of miles long, and though they are narrow in the context of weather systems, 'narrow' can mean up to 300 miles across."
The data from these launches goes toward a global weather forecasting model which works to improve weather forecasts for the entire West Coast.
"We don't have measurements of the atmosphere in higher levels," explained Vilela. "We have the weather stations, they are on the ground, and we have satellites that estimate some variables of the atmosphere but usually at higher levels like the top of the clouds. In the middle of the atmosphere, between the ground and 12 or 15 kilometers, we have basically nothing, so we have to launch these balloons."
The data collected from these launches will directly influence Yuba Water Agency's future runoff forecasts as well. These predictions are vital in determining the proper maintenance of New Bullards Bar Reservoir and directly impact flood control protocols in Yuba County.
"The data they get from the balloon, and pretty much anything we do with the Scripps Institute, is helpful with forecasting the location, intensity, and duration of atmospheric river storms," said Willie Whittlesey, Yuba Water's general manager. "Last year was a near record year. The number of atmospheric rivers was well into the double digits. We got a lot of great information and we were able to use that information in near real time through our runoff forecasting models."
Yuba Water's official partnership with Scripps formalized in 2019 and so far the group has studied several storms with particular interest in the series of atmospheric rivers that moved through the region during last year's wet season.
If all went well, the Scripps team would have continued to collect data from these balloons until they were shut off or reached back to the ground. Most often, the equipment is lost after its descent, however there are a few recovery teams and hobbyists that enjoy hunting for the balloon's GPS systems afterwards. A number of websites have been set up for this purpose and weather balloon data can be openly viewed by the public.
