On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, Lincoln Park Middle School’s 8th grade pre-engineering class and their teachers decided to launch a weather balloon. This planning process for this project has been in the works for some time.

Dates tracked by weather balloons can convey a wide variety of meteorological data over a full range. This is very important.

Program coordinator Dave Johnson explained the details of the project and what the students will be waiting for when the balloon lands.

“We will fill the balloon with helium and launch it into the sky from the payload. It can pull pictures, and it also pulls information from the onboard Eagle Flight Computer.

For some students, this is their second launch. He shared what he’s looking forward to with this launch after his first one didn’t go well.

“The first time I launched grass and moss to see what would happen, the only problem was the camera didn’t work, so I couldn’t see a picture of it going up in the air and then going down. I got the balloon and everything back, but the camera didn’t work, so I hope this model with the long battery life does well.”

With all this talk about weather balloons, another question would be: why are they so important? WDIO Storm Track Meteorologist Brandon Weatherz explains the balloon process.

“When assessing weather information, we want to know what is happening not only at the surface of the earth, but also at the top of the troposphere and everywhere in between. is to attach some meteorological instruments to the surface and move them up into the atmosphere, measuring temperature, humidity, and air pressure in the process, which we are interested in. It’s a big deal.”

Every day, meteorological balloons are launched into space from all over the world.

“One in Minnesota, one in International Falls, and one in the Twin Cities area of ​​Chanhassen. So this time of year is 7am and 7pm,” says Weatherz.

Students from Marshall and other parts of St. Louis County will also launch weather balloons over four to six months.