JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The University of North Florida has again been chosen to help NASA track a full solar eclipse. A group of students led by Dr. Nirmal Patel & Dr. Hemani Kaushal headed to Spain on Saturday and will launch a high-altitude balloon during the Wednesday eclipse.
The balloon will fly as high as 10-12 miles or more and will measure changes in atmospheric conditions, including temperature, humidity, pressure, dew point and ozone concentration.
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The instruments will also gather data on energetic particles, radiation levels, radio communications and capture images of the moon’s shadow moving across Earth during totality.
UNF has developed a strong data collection relationship with NASA. Dr. Patel’s ozone sensor payload has been selected and launched by the NASA-High Altitude Student Payload project every year since 2008.
Kaushal has also developed a long-range communication system (LoRa) that will be launched by NASA this September along with a second UNF payload named the Osprey Ozone Sensor.
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NASA selected and funded the UNF team as one of only three universities to participate in the international eclipse mission.
Chief Meteorologist Mike Buresh visited the group of scientists just a few days before they flew to Europe. This eclipse will not be visible from any of the United States.
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