The Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Stratosolutions Inc. a $150,000 Project Grant under the NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program on September 1, 2021 to be completed by February 28, 2022.
The grant funds Stratosolutions Inc. to integrate miniaturized dropsondes onto high altitude pseudo-satellite unmanned aerial vehicles to validate weather data collection capabilities not currently possible. Dropsondes are one of the only viable options for meteorological observations over remote ocean areas with no cost-effective radiosonde deployment approach. Technology advances have enabled smaller dropsondes suitable for deployment from solar-powered stratospheric unmanned aerial vehicles capable of continuous flight for months. If validated, the integrated system could significantly improve numerical weather prediction model accuracy by addressing data gaps over oceans.
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