5th March 2025: Balloon Weather Decision Support System gets ZX 300 upgrade
The 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta took flight in October 2024, with advanced weather technology to ensure the safety and success of its ballooning operations. The event, which brought together hundreds of hot air balloons from around the world, saw Radiometrics deploy the Radiometrics Mobile SkyCast® Balloon Weather Decision Support System, featuring the ZX 300 Doppler wind Lidar. This state-of-the-art technology was crucial in delivering real-time weather insights, providing detailed wind profiling, and enhancing decision-making during the festival’s critical operations.
“Having near surface observed data on the scale of minutes is a game changer!” commented Brad Temeyer, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Operations. “Ballooning is a sport that is impacted by small scale features – on scales smaller than models depict. I have been fortunate to work with the Radiometrics and ZX Lidars systems installed at Albuquerque. The data from these systems allow us to direct the event with confidence, ensuring that safety decisions are always at the forefront.”
Real-Time Monitoring during the event continuously provided wind data and shear characteristics. The system helped to predict potential hazards such as sudden gusts or changing weather conditions, which are critical for both ascent and landing phases. Integrated with the SkyCast® system, the wind Lidar delivers data to forecasting software, supporting safer balloon operations throughout the event.
Ballooning is highly sensitive to weather conditions, particularly wind behavior and atmospheric stability, which can rapidly change in outdoor environments. The ZX 300 Lidar is renowned for its precision in measuring wind speeds and directions at various altitudes, providing profiles up to 200 meters above ground level (AGL) and delivering essential data for flight safety and to mitigate risks on site associated with changing weather conditions.
The technology deployed at the Balloon Fiesta is the result of a successful partnership between NRG Systems and Radiometrics, who have a longstanding relationship in delivering top-tier atmospheric sensing solutions across North America. With the integration of the ZX 300 Wind Lidar by ZX Lidars, Radiometrics ensures that balloon events can access the most accurate and reliable weather data available.
As Neil Brackin, a key figure at Radiometrics in bringing this technology to the event commented: “The Balloon Fiesta was an incredible showcase for how our weather decision support systems, incorporating the ZX 300 wind Lidar, contribute to both safety and success for ballooning operations.”
