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here.About the Author:
Jake Spisak is a Sensors Engineer responsible for calibrating and ensuring the accuracy of WindBorne's weather sensors (temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, altitude). He is from San Diego and completed his Ph.D. in Physics at UCSD last year, and was excited to travel back home to launch weather balloons off a beach he’s visited many times. In his free time, he enjoys watching Padres baseball, playing piano, and gardening.
At WindBorne, we're constantly pushing to validate and improve our Global Sounding Balloon (GSB) technology. When our Meteorology Lead, Todd Hutchinson, reached out to the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography to propose a side-by-side sensor comparison, they graciously agreed to a collaborate.
CW3E's mission is to provide water cycle science to address extreme weather impacts across Western North America. They regularly launch Vaisala RS41 radiosondes on latex balloons to measure atmospheric rivers over the Pacific, thus making them ideal partners for validating our temperature, humidity, pressure, altitude, and wind speed sensors.
After a few weeks of preparation, we designed three case studies:
1. Both sensor packages on a latex balloon
2. Both sensor packages on a WindBorne balloon
3. Two balloons launched side-by-side
Each setup presented unique challenges. Sensor packages needed careful spacing to avoid biased readings, cable tangling, and communications interference. For the second flight, Andrey (CTO) engineered a custom rig—a 6-foot wooden beam hanging off our balloon to balance both sensor suites. For both flights involving WindBorne balloons, I conscripted John Little (Specialty Flight Control) to help us match the latex balloon’s fast ascent rate and quick turnarounds.
Nathan Kaplan (Global Head of Launch) and I flew down with our equipment, navigating TSA's understandable curiosity about the balloon electronics (fortunately, the SFO explosives expert knows us pretty well now). The normally restricted Scripps Pier provided a stunning launch site, with surfers riding the break below as the morning marine layer burned off.
The first launch went smoothly. Elementary students visiting through the California Coastal Conservancy's Explore the Coast grant helped Subin Yoon and Ethan Morris launch the latex balloon carrying our stripped-down sensor package. Watching our equipment shoot upward at 5 m/s was a thrill—these latex balloons climb fast before popping around 25km.
By our second launch—the most complex one with both sensors on our balloon—the wind had picked up considerably. Despite communication dropouts and slowing helium flow, Nathan successfully launched in front of ~30 spectators. We caught the glint of sunlight off our mylar shield as the temperature and humidity sensors deployed perfectly.
The third launch was also more thrilling than we bargained for. High winds forced us to launch over the pier's edge, watching our balloon dip several feet before climbing skyward. My family came out to watch this final launch, and my grandmother even helped launch the latex balloon, which was a fitting cap to the day.
We've now exchanged data with both CW3E and Jooil Kim's drone team (who were simultaneously measuring wind speeds as part of a separate effort at the Scripps Institute to collect weather data using drones). Despite a few initial communications glitches on the ground, all flights successfully collected data, and we are in the process of reviewing the comparison. Although we can only compare data from the initial atmospheric profiles, our balloons continued onwards - coasting across the southern United States. One is now about to reach the coast of Africa.
Special thanks to Subin Yoon, Ethan Morris, Anna Wilson, and the entire CW3E team for making this comparison possible.
WindBorne Systems is based in Palo Alto, Calif. Our technology is invented, designed, and manufactured in the USA.
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