Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An instrument carried aloft, chiefly by balloon, to gather and transmit meteorological data.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A miniature radio carried aloft by an unmanned balloon to broadcast the pressure, temperature, and relative humidity of the upper air and to automatically transmit that information to the ground.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German, Radiosonde : radio-, radio- + Sonde, probe, plumb bob (from French sonde; see sonde).]

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Examples

  • David, a radiosonde is a type of probe containing meteorological instruments that transmits data that can be recorded remotely.

    Measuring Precipitation on Willis' Boots « Climate Audit 2007

  • Attached to the balloon is a weather instrument called a radiosonde, which transmits data on temperature, humidity, and pressure at different layers through the atmosphere. operates 92 stations that launch balloons twice a day. with the closest station in Buffalo

    13WHAM: Top Stories 2009

  • The radiosonde is a small box filled with devices that measure atmospheric parameters as the balloon ascends; this device transmits the information to a computer via radio waves.

    WordPress.com News tooshytostop 2008

  • Even Paltridge et al. 2009, which relied on the NCEP reanalysis data, recognized that “[i]t is accepted that radiosonde-derived humidity data must be treated with great caution, particularly at altitudes above the 500 hPa [hectopascal] pressure level.”

    Eli can retire: Part II - so much for Miskolczi EliRabett 2010

  • Figure 4 shows the radiosonde water vapor data set from Boulder, which to my knowledge is the longest such record, together with various satellite records.

    Archive 2010-02-01 EliRabett 2010

  • Figure 4 shows the radiosonde water vapor data set from Boulder, which to my knowledge is the longest such record, together with various satellite records.

    Hot Water and Air EliRabett 2010

  • The radiosonde data from Boulder, with two satellite data sets.

    Hot Water and Air EliRabett 2010

  • Even Paltridge et al. 2009, which relied on the NCEP reanalysis data, recognized that “[i]t is accepted that radiosonde-derived humidity data must be treated with great caution, particularly at altitudes above the 500 hPa [hectopascal] pressure level.”

    Archive 2010-03-01 EliRabett 2010

  • The radiosonde data from Boulder, with two satellite data sets.

    Archive 2010-02-01 EliRabett 2010

  • Cooling of the lower stratosphere (about 49,000-79,500ft.) since 1979 is shown by both satellite Microwave Sounding Unit and radiosonde data, but is larger in the radiosonde data.

    Global warming frequently asked questions 2009

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  • In meteorology, an instrument carried aloft by a balloon to send back information on atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity using a small radio transmitter

    March 9, 2007