Crowd Gathers at COD to Watch Weather Balloon Launch

News at College of DuPage




By Mike McKissackApproximately 150 people gathered in the Street Scene of College of DuPage’s Homeland
Security Education Center on the College’s Glen Ellyn campus to watch the launch of
a meteorological weather balloon.Click here to view photos from this event.Kicking off the COD Meteorology program’s 29th storm chasing season, the launch was attended by COD students, faculty and staff,
as well as community members, meteorological industry experts, and past and current
participants in the COD storm-chasing program.The balloon, which travelled approximately 67,000 feet into the atmosphere before
popping, allowed meteorology students and faculty to track a variety of atmospheric
conditions, including humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction, dew point,
barometric pressure and atmospheric density, as well as trajectory data such as latitude,
longitude, altitude and flight path. Attendees were able to view the data and watch
the flight path in real-time via Google Maps and see a three-dimensional rendering
of the flight path and altitude trajectory. In addition to the launch, the event also
included a presentation on the Meteorology program, the importance of weather balloons
for daily weather forecasting and information on the College’s storm chasing trips
and equipment.Another weather balloon launch is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the
College’s second annual STEM-CON, a free interactive fair celebrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.For more information about the College’s Meteorology program, its storm chasing opportunities
and Next Generation Weather Lab, please click here.



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