Last week, Nature Scientific Reports published a study conducted by David Brown (Urban Sky and Harvard), Professor Marianna Linz (Harvard), and myself. The study dives into global upper atmospheric winds and their role in steering High Altitude Balloons (HABs) using only altitude control. We asked the key question: "Can you always steer a HAB just by adjusting its altitude?"
Our simulations covered thousands of controlled balloon flights between 50,000 and 100,000 feet, the altitude where HABs typically operate. These insights are crucial for the growing movement to replace satellites with slower, more versatile, and lower-cost aerial vehicles. Such vehicles can potentially stop above a fixed point on Earth or navigate through varying winds without lateral propulsion.
Projects like Google Loon have demonstrated the value of these massive, high-cost systems. However, our findings suggest that while some level of control using wind variance is always possible, true station-keeping (holding a balloon over a fixed location) is not universally achievable. This means that, like satellites, continuous global coverage will likely require networks of smaller, more affordable balloons rather than a single system "hovering" indefinitely. In this paradigm balloons can be thought of as personally deployable satellites that can be steered, and sometimes stopped, as opposed to satellites that are functionally locked into a fixed orbit.
The implications extend beyond balloons. Any high-altitude vehicle relying on wind conditions—unless capable of outpacing the wind—faces similar challenges. David’s work tested these assumptions through historical data spanning seasons and regions across the globe, exploring whether the HAB industry should prioritize large, expensive platforms or smaller, networked systems. Check out the paper and join the conversation.
https://lnkd.in/g_DRbgQJ
#Stratosphere #HighAltitudeBalloons #AtmosphericResearch #SatelliteReplacement #StationKeeping #WindNavigation #AerospaceInnovation #Urbansky
