2006 NOAA SMART BALLOON EXPERIMENT
Houston, TX

August 25 - September 15

-Targeted Wind Sensing at UNH

-Aerial View of Launch Site at La Porte Airport in La Porte, TX

-Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

-2006 TexAQS / GoMACCS Homepage

-Earth System Research Laboratory Homepage for TexAQS II

-TexAQS Useful Links

Weather Links

-Current Hi-Resolution Synoptic Chart

-TexAQS Forecast Discussion

-TexAQS Forecast Discussion Figures

Mission Overview

In late August and early September of 2006 a series of smart balloons capable of monitoring ozone concentrations will be released from the industrial region of Houston, Texas. The deployments are part of the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS), which includes participants from a large number of universities and Texas and Federal air quality programs. The smart balloons were developed at NOAA's ARLFRD, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii. Miniature ozone sensors were developed at the University of New Hampshire. Six smart balloons will be deployed from the La Porte airport in Houston over a three-week period as part of the larger experiment to observe ways in which ozone episodes (up to 200 ppb) evolve over the region. The goal of the smart balloons is to measure the ozone concentration and a number of other variables (T, P, RH, etc.) as they move with and track the flow. These Lagrangian balloon observations will help researchers better understand and model the complex interactions of the local sea-breeze circulation and the impact of Houston's urban heat island on the transport of ozone and its precursors.

Balloon Flight Data

Flight ID#2
Flight ID#6

Flight ID#4 Flight ID#7

This page maintained by Ryan Ellis: rtellis@hawaii.edu