The patent-pending Anasphere SmartTetherTM meteorological system represents a revolutionary approach to gathering atmospheric profiles within the lower troposphere through the use of tethered kites, blimps, and balloons. Here are a few exciting features that set the SmartTether system apart from traditional tethersonde systems:
The individual modules on the SmartTether are capable of measuring multiple parameters including pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. The modules have extra analog and digital interfaces for additional sensors allowing the user to customize their system.
The heart of the SmartTether is a series of wireless data modules which are attached to the tether to automatically establish a linear network. This network sends data from the modules to a simple hand-held receiver which is directly interfaced to a standard PC. Data relay operates in both directions in that commands can also be relayed from the PC to the individual data modules or the network as a whole.
SmartTether was designed to monitor the highly variable boundary layer winds (see photo to the right). In the photograph, the tethered blimp is at an altitude of 500 feet above the surface with streamer markers every fifty feet. The streamers clearly demonstrate how variable boundary layer winds can be even over distances as small as 50 feet!
The SmartTether can be used to gather flux measurements by making several vertically separated measurements of the species of interest (e.g., carbon dioxide). Please refer to Kuck et al. in our support section to see this method described in more detail.
