Long Term Tropospheric and Stratospheric Measurements Using High Altitude Balloons

The Arkansas BalloonSAT program is an educational outreach and research program at Arkansas State University. A variety of instruments including HOBO data loggers, Anasonde, and Arduino methane sensors have been flown on flights in the past five years. Measurements using BalloonSAT provides a cost effective option, while also matching measurements made with satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. This includes identifying water vapor, pressure, background radiation, methane, carbon dioxide and temperature profiles over seasons and years. Water vapor trends were observed to vary with seasons, with water vapor lowest in the summer and greatest in the spring at stratospheric altitudes. Methane and carbon dioxide were observed to decrease with higher altitudes because of the greater distance from emission sources. Temperature measurements followed typical atmospheric profile measurements with an inversion at the stratosphere