Abstract

A description is given of a system that has been constructed to make radiometric measurements from high altitude balloons. The instrumentation consists of a 20-cm aperture, 30-cm focal length radiometer that has been equipped to scan in azimuth and elevation, a filter system so that spectral data can be obtained, an onboard digital magnetic tape recording system for recording the data generated during the flight, auxiliary electronics and power supplies for operation of the equipment, and a gondola to serve as a suitable scanning platform and to protect the equipment when it is returned to the ground by parachute at the end of the flight. The results obtained on a balloon flight made with this equipment on May 8, 1959 are also presented. For this flight the radiometer was equipped with a thermistor bolometer detector with a KRS-5 window and with filters that transmitted radiation from 1 μ to 2 μ, 2 μ to 3 μ, 3 μ to 5 μ, 5 μ to 8 μ, and 8 μ to 35 μ. These results are presented in the form of isoradiance plots.

© 1962 Optical Society of America

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