Invention and Development of the Radiosonde with a Catalog of Upper-Atmospheric Telemetering Probes in the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Abstract

From a historical perspective, the radiosonde is one of the more significant technological innovations of the twentheth century, not only because its widespread use greatly enhanced the accuracy of weather forecasting, but also because some features of its basic design became the foundation of all modern analog telemetry systems. This study examines the way in which advances in the technology of non-telemetering balloonsondes and radio in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries culminated in the invention of the radiosonde in 1929. The subsequent development of radiosondes in Europe and the United States from 1929 to 1940 is traced in detail, when the basic design of this instrument achieved its modern form. An overview of significant modifications in radiosonde design after 1940 also is provided because the instruments have remained an essential meteorological tool in the twenty-first century. This monograph also includes a catalog of radiosones in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Photographs of instruments in this unique collection that graphically depict the development stages of the radiosonde are presented.