A weather balloon carrying a modern radiosonde was launched in test mode at the Yakkatut agrometeorological station in Uzbekistan’s Bukhara region.
As it ascends, the instrument measures air temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity, as well as wind speed and direction at different altitudes. The readings are transmitted to a ground station in real time.
Such measurements are used to map atmospheric conditions, improve forecast accuracy and detect hazardous hydrometeorological events earlier.
The information also supports meteorological services for aviation, agriculture and other sectors.
Radiosondes were regularly launched in several Uzbek cities during the Soviet period, but the observations later stopped. The Bukhara test may mark the start of their resumption.
