rocketsonde
(ˈrɒkɪtsɒnd)
Also rocket-sonde, rocket sonde.
[f. rocket n.3 + -sonde, after radiosonde.]
A package of meteorological or other scientific instruments which is carried aloft by a rocket, released in the upper atmosphere, and floats down by parachute, transmitting measurements automatically by radio.
| 1949 E. Durand in G. P. Kuiper Atmospheres Earth & Planets iv. 134 (heading) Rocket sonde research at the Naval Research Laboratory. 1951 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. X. 18 Direct measurements have been made by means of rocket-sondes to altitudes of over 100 miles. 1963 Proc. 1st Internat. Symp. Rocket & Satellite Meteorol. 23 The rocketsonde, at the present time, measures the temperature only; the wind is determined by radar tracking of the metallized parachute. 1969 McIntosh & Thom Essent. Meteorol. vii. 112 Above the ceiling of balloons, information is provided by rocket sonde or by satellite. 1976 Nature 13 May 124/1 The phase of the annual oscillation in the zonal winds at 82 km is consistent with the phase of this oscillation in the lower mesosphere determined from rocketsonde data. |