Balloon-Borne Solar Radiation Measurements during the 2017 North American Eclipse

A solar eclipse provides a well-characterized reduction in solar radiation. Solar radiation is a driving factor in meteorological and climate models. Hence, solar eclipses provide a unique opportunity to do large-scale meteorological experiments by measuring the effects on temperature, pressure, and wind while the atmospheric conditions stay mostly constant as the solar radiation amount changes. An eclipse is also a good opportunity to see what happens to solar power generation. Balloon-borne sensors get you above the cloud layer, but as we shall see, they are not necessarily ideal for this type of measurement.