Stratospheric drone could make weather balloons obsolete

Weather balloons are wasteful and not very environmentally friendly: they explode upon reaching high altitudes and then fall to earth as trash that is rarely recovered. That’s why there is now a reusable multicopter weather drone that can fly to the edge of the stratosphere.

Announced this Thursday (September 8), the Strato is a quadcopter manufactured by Swiss weather technology company Meteomatics.

It is reportedly capable of reaching a record altitude of 34,245 feet (10,438 meters) and is classified to 39,000 feet (11,887 m), where it can collect data on variables such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind speed. That said, it’s worth noting that balloons can typically amount to at least 60,000 feet (18,288 m) before the difference in surrounding air pressure causes them to explode.

While balloons can fly higher, the logistics involved in launching them generally limit them to two pre-scheduled launch times per day. By contrast, Meteomatics notes that the Strato can be flown at any time, as long as changing conditions indicate that new readings should be taken.

Of course, the weather may not be so pleasant in the stratosphere.

For that reason, the Strato is completely waterproof, it can withstand sustained winds of up to 80 mph (129 km/h) by automatically orienting itself towards the headwind, and it also has an automatic de-icing system on its propellers. It is also said to be capable of remaining operational in temperatures down to -70ºC (-94ºF) and up to 60ºC (140ºF).

Real-time telemetry, including altitude, wind, temperature and icing alerts, is transmitted to your operator on the ground throughout the flight. And if all else fails, the Strato has a parachute that will deploy in the event of an “emergency descent.” There is no information on battery life.

It is now available through the company’s website.

Source: Meteomatics