Atmospheric modeling by SCRAT experiment during the 2010 ESA BEXUS 10 Flight Campaign

This paper discusses the atmospheric analyses that were carried out using pressure and temperature data collected during the flight of the SCRAT experiment onboard the BEXUS 10 balloon. Here are underlined the vast perspectives in terms of scientific data evaluation, analysis and modeling that can be retrieved by the use of simple commercial temperature and pressure sensors. An environmental model accounting for radiative and convective energy transfer based on the temperature and pressure data has been developed. The diurnal effects on the stratospheric temperature and other related physical quantities as the lapse rate and the water vapor content have been derived. As a by product, the onboard temperature sensor used as a Sun sensor can infer many information on the attitude of the balloon by the study of the temperature oscillations induced by the balloon’s rotation during the floating phase.