An Innovative Low-Cost Dropsonde Using Integrated Rolled Circuit Design

Current dropsondes (and radiosondes for that matter) are manufactured, using process and materials nearly 20 years old. The standard dropsonde is 16 inches long by 2.25 inches in diameter, weighing about one pound. YES proposes to significantly reduce size and weight of the current sensor package through innovative design and manufacture techniques. YES¿s ongoing research into chilled mirror dew point sensors for radiosonde deployment has given it opportunity to perform some of this research already. We believe we can manufacture a dropsonde (not including the GPS function, more on this later) with less than 15 components, including sensors, by careful selection of existing components. We will demonstrate in this proposal via data sheets and a preliminary schematic the architecture of a dropsonde that fulfills the <15-component realization stated above.