New experimental description of the geographical temperature distribution in the Southern Hemisphere near the 100-millibar level during winter and spring

This paper describes the primary results of a series of balloon-borne measurements of stratospheric temperature at about 100 mb in the southern hemisphere, conducted as a part of the Solar Monitoring Experiment (SOMEX)[Heinsheimer and Pommereau, 1968]. The data presented here were transmitted by two of the superpressure balloons during the period from July 1 to November 30, 1968. These two flights, launched from Pretoria, Republic of South Africa (26.5°S, 28°E), remained within the southern hemisphere during their lifetimes. They resulted in the collection of some 250 measurements of the mean air temperature (at local noon) near the 100-mb level. As the super-pressure balloon follows the horizontal movements of the air, its displacement allows the accumulation of information in geographical locations inaccessible to short-lived radiosonde probes [Lally, 1967]. This is particularly true in the southern hemisphere, where the distribution of radiosonde stations leaves much to be desired. Two meteorological programs using superpressure balloons have been started : Global Horizontal Sounding Technique (GHOST) by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) [Lally, 1968] and EOLE, a French project by the Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) [Morel, 1966]. To our knowledge no data on stratospheric temperature have been published.