First Two Weather Balloons Launched from the Hilltop to Measure Ozone and Meteorological Data

On Saturday, July 30th and Thursday, August 4th, the first two weather balloons ever to be launched from the Hilltop took flight as part of the Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project (TOPP)! Started by Dean of Natural Sciences, Gary A. Morris in Houston in 2004 has coordinated over 750 flights around the world, from different parts of Texas, all over the United States, and even in Panama, Costa Rica, and Japan. With funding from the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), TOPP can now add Austin to its long list of launch sites! The St. Edward’s TOPP team plans to launch 14 more balloons over the next two ozone seasons (2016 and 2017) to measure both ozone and meteorological data.

For more information on the launches, including flight and route pictures, click here for the first launch and here for the second launch.

Also, check out the School of Natural Sciences blog for more information on this and other projects!