Hello 8th Grade,
As we discussed in class, I would like you to try the following.
Go to the following website:
http://predict.habhub.org/
You should see Oxford in the middle of the screen. Only problem, that is the wrong Oxford. That is
Oxford, England. We need to move to Oxford, PA.
You can do this in several ways. Here are two examples.
We are going to use the Prediction Window to set up our location and forecast a launch.
First Way to set location
1.
2.
3.
4.
Using the mouse, zoom out until you see the United States (US).
Drag the screen over to make the US in the middle.
Zoom into Oxford PA.
Click ‘Set With Map’ in the Prediction Window. (A box opens telling you to click the desired
location.)
5. Click the screen as close to Sacred Heart
6. A red dot should appear where you clicked the screen.
Second Way to set location
1. Using the Prediction Window
2. Enter the following in the Latitude/Longitude field:
o 39.7325
o -75.9812
3. The red dot should appear at Sacred Heart.
Now we are going to set up our launch prediction.
Set up Launch Parameters.
1. In the ‘Launch altitude’ field, enter 20.
2. Set the ‘Launch Time (UTC)’ to : 12:00
o Look up UTC and tell me what it means? What is the time difference between UTC and
our local time? What is UTC also called?
3. Set ‘Launch Date’ to 30 Mar 2017
4. Set ‘Ascent Rate (m/s)’ to 5
5. Set ‘Burst Altitude (m)’ to 26212
6. Set ‘Descent Rate (m/s) to 5
Now click ‘Run Prediction’
Answer the following questions:
A. Where will the balloon burst?
B. Where will balloon land?
C. Convert 26212 meters to Feet.
Now change any of the parameters and see how it changes.
A. Change the ‘Ascent Rate’ to 3 and click ‘Run Prediction’. What changed?
B. Change the ‘Descent Rate’ to 7 and click ‘Run Prediction’. What changed?
C. Change the ‘Launch Date’ to 31 Mar 2017. Click ‘Run Prediction’. What changed?
Challenge
Using the original configuration, try to find a launch location that has the balloon landing in Oxford.
Where would we have to launch it from? Tip: It is easier to the ‘Set with Map’ option and pick random
spots to get it to land in Oxford.
Now go to the following website:
http://www.weatherstreet.com/states/gfsx-300-forecast.htm
Move the mouse across the Day’s (Day 1, Day 2, etc…) and watch the Jet Stream change. Does the jet
stream match the day of the launch forecast?
Become familiar with the above tools. It is going to determine what day we launch, where we launch,
and where it may land. Next we will work using the ‘Use Burst Calculator’ function. This will allow us to
fine tune the launch site and our weather balloon configuration.
Hopefully you have started looking on the internet for design ideas.
See the following page for last year’s weather balloon.