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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Emission Spectroscopic Boundary Layer Investigation during Ablative Material Testing in Plasmatron
Published on: June 9, 2016
On the use of manned hydrogen-gas ballooning in boundary layer studies
B Rappenglück1, H Reitmayer, P Fabian
1Lehrstuhl für Bioklimatologie und Immissionsforschung, Technische Universität München, Am Hochanger 13, D-85354, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany. rappenglueck@met.forst.tu-muenchen.de
Abstract:
Measurements of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and, for the first time, on-line, nonmethane hydrocarbons with a quasicontinuous gaschromatographic/flame ionization technique were performed on a manned hydrogen-gas balloon platform. A cycle time of 10 min allowed the determination of nonmethane hydrocarbons in the carbon number range of C(4)-C(10) with a detection limit of 10 pptv. In addition, meteorological parameters (atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity) along with GPS-data (global positioning system) was accomplished during the balloon flights. Balloon measurements of trace compounds provide valuable information about photochemical processes in the boundary layer since gas ballooning offers the only technique that stays in the same air parcel along Langrangian trajectories. In addition, gas ballooning represents a unique tool to elucidate micrometeorological observations such as atmospheric stability oscillations and local wind fields.
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