Väisälä's radiosonde
Radiosonda de Väisälä
- Date
- 1931 · confidence medium
- Place
- Helsinki, Finland
- Credited to
- Vilho Väisälä
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A balloon with a transmitter that sends temperature, pressure and humidity as it rises, which Väisälä developed in Finland and launched around 1931. It made regular sounding of the atmosphere possible.
Shared priority: the Frenchman Robert Bureau launched a radiosonde in January 1929 and Pavel Molchanov (USSR) launched a radiosonde at Pavlovsk on 30 January 1930, before Väisälä. His merit is the practical, successful design.
What it led to
- a worldwide radiosonde network for weather forecasting
- the company Vaisala (1936), a leader in meteorological instruments
- upper-air data for climate models and ozone research