The University of North Florida has again been chosen to help NASA track a full solar eclipse. A group of students led by Dr. Nirmal Patel & Dr. Hemani Kaushal headed to Spain on Saturday and will launch a high-altitude balloon during the Wednesday (Aug. 12) eclipse. The balloon will fly as high as 10-12 miles or more and will measure changes in atmospheric conditions, including temperature, humidity, pressure, dew point and ozone concentration. The instruments will also gather data on energetic particles, radiation levels, radio communications and capture images of the moon’s shadow moving across Earth during totality.
UNF has developed a strong data collection relationship with NASA. Dr. Patel’s ozone sensor payload has been selected and launched by the NASA-High Altitude Student Payload project every year since 2008. Kaushal has also developed a long-range communication system (LoRa) that will be launched by NASA this September along with a second UNF payload named the Osprey Ozone Sensor.
NASA selected and funded the UNF team as one of only three universities to participate in the international eclipse mission. Chief Meteorologist Mike Buresh visited the group of scientists just a few days before they flew to Europe. This eclipse will not be visible from any of the United States…