By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/L’Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, Palaiseau, France This instrument is able to measure the size distribution of aerosols in a range from a few tenths to some tens of micrometers as well as to infer the nature of the aerosol from the light observed at two scattering angles (Thirteen BLPBs (4 in ADRIMED, 9 in SAF-MED) were fitted with an ECC ozonesonde (Gheusi et al. Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/L’Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, Palaiseau, France (left) Each point on the map is an assimilated observation (temperature or wind) below 700 hPa. (Photo credit: CNES. The purpose was to study the time evolution (ageing) of pollutants within drifting air parcels offshore. All atmospheric perturbations that push the balloon out of its equilibrium disturb Lagrangian behavior. The northernmost point of Africa is farther north than the southernmost point of Europe. There were 66 constant-volume balloons deployed in 14 months in a variety of weather conditions and various scientific missions. (right) The vertical longitude–pressure cross section shows data counts in 0.1° × 0.1° × 10 hPa boxes that have been averaged in latitude in the red square domain on the map. The position of the circles indicates the distance traveled and the mean flight level.

VASCO consists of the balloonborne atmospheric campaign (During VASCO, 10 BLPBs and 8 Aeroclippers were launched from Mahé (in the Seychelles). The BLPB field campaigns in the Mediterranean would not have been possible without the motivation of local people who hosted the launch sites during HyMeX and ChArMEx as well as the willingness of air traffic control agents.The scientific community collected unique datasets during these campaigns, thanks to the CNES, its balloons department, and the very professional and motivated staff.A special thank you is extended to Jean-Noël Valdivia for his support concerning technology in the gondolas and to Naomi Riviere and Alan Hally for their support concerning the language.Finally the coauthors would like to thank Météo-France, LMD, Alain Fontaine, and the SEDOO group for the meteorological data and tools that allowed the setting up of the trajectory prediction facility in both HyMeX and ChArMEx.Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the Regional Climate in the MediterraneanApplications of Research to Operations at MesoscaleCentre National d’Études Spatiales (French Space Agency)Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’EspaceService des Avions Francais Instrumentes pour la Recherche en EnvironnementTransport à Longue Distance et Qualité de l’Air dans le bassin Méditerranéen (Long Distance Transport and Air Quality in the Mediterranean basin)Validation of the Aeroclipper System under Convective OccurrenceIf visible, please click on the Kudos Summary button above to view the author's plain language summary of this article.

GPS was used to derive wind estimates. The years 2012 and 2013 with HyMeX and ChArMEx were highlighted for balloon activity in the Mediterranean. These balloons generally serve as vehicles to carry potentially heavy scientific payloads from the planetary boundary layer (PBL) to the stratosphere. The prediction of every possible trajectory allowed the HOC to avoid the use of sensitivity information when deciding on the launch of BLPBs.High-frequency data (2 data packets per minute) from the BLPBs during HyMeX SOP1 and SOP2 were filtered to produce NWP-compatible data (1 data packet every 15 minutes) that were assimilated by the French operational NWP models ARPEGE (The assimilated dataset is unprecedented, as very few in situ data exist at low levels above the sea. Doerenbecher, A., and Coauthors, 2016: Low-Atmosphere Drifting Balloons: Platforms for Environment Monitoring and Forecast Improvement. Flights in HyMeX-SOP2 allowed the study of the wind structure and sampling of the marine humidity uptake. There were 14 balloons deployed from Minorca (Balearic Islands) in conditions of generally moderate wind and clear sky. In AMMA, BLPBs succeeded in investigating the diurnal cycle in the Sahel.

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