ASTRA 10 captures images of gravity waves

ASTRA 10 captures images of gravity waves

ASTRA 10 was one of a series of flights designed to provide calibration data for the ASTRA balloon trajectory simulation code.

The flight, conducted in collaboration with the MetOffice, was also aimed at testing the feasibility of using a Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone (running the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system) as a communications, tracking, data logging and imaging device.

Airborne for 2 hours and 22 minutes, ASTRA 10 reached an apogee altitude of over 32km (~105,000 feet), and, in addition to trajectory data, it captured over 2GB worth of imagery, including shots of gravity wave clouds above South Wales. These are generated by an airmass being forced to rise in a stable atmosphere. Eventually gravity will bring the airmass back down, but it will overshoot its equilibrium height, rising once again – this process repeating multiple times creates the ripple effect seen on the picture below.

 

Internal Gravity Waves – Gravity wave clouds, as seen by ASTRA 10.

Payload train – ASTRA 10 ready for launch.