Material Type

Artifact

Date

1990

Materials

STYROFOAM, PLASTIC, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Height

37.5

Length

17.2

Width

17.2

Description

RADIOSONDE. WHITE STYROFOAM BLOCK WITH CUTOUT STRIPS ON BOTTOMS OF FOUR CORNERS. TOP HAS PLASTIC WHEEL WITH SPOKES. PLASTIC ARM WITH LOOP ON TOP AND HINGE ON BOTTOM COMES OUT CENTRE OF WHEEL. INTERMITTENT PIECES OF TAPE ON SIDES OF INSTRUMENT. LABEL ON FRONT MARKED "TRANSMITTING SET, RADIO... SERIAL NO 1PC90-4782... DATE, 7-9-90." BACK OF INSTRUMENT HAS ELECTRICAL PANEL WITH RED GREEN AND BLUE WIRES ATTACHED TO A THREE PRONGED PLUG. ALSO HAS TWO BLUE WIRES THAT GO UP THROUGH TOP OF DEVICE. THREE SLOTS IN BACK OF DEVICE. BOTTOM OF INSTRUMENT HAS METAL PIECE WITH NUT AND BOLT STICKING OUT CENTER.

Subjects

METEOROLOGICAL T&E

Historical Association

PROFESSIONS

History

THE DONOR, LEO GRUDNISKI, GOT THIS PARTICULAR RADIOSONDE AS A GIFT “FROM THE BOYS WORKING AT THE LETHBRIDGE AIRPORT.” THEY GAVE IT TO HIM AS A THANK YOU BECAUSE HE WAS GIVING A TALK. THEY THOUGHT THE INSTRUMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN SIMILAR TO SOMETHING HE HAD USED IN HIS METEOROLOGY DAYS. THIS HAPPENED WITHIN THE LAST TEN OR FIFTEEN YEARS OR SO, ALTHOUGH THE INSTRUMENT ITSELF IS ABOUT TWENTY YEARS OLD. STYROFOAM WAS USED AS THE HOUSING MATERIAL BECAUSE IT IS SO LIGHT. THIS ALLOWED THE BALLOON TO CARRY THE RADIO TO A HIGHER ALTITUDE. THE INSTRUMENT HAD ALREADY BEEN USED SO IT SAT IN GRUDNISKI’S LOFT. HE THOUGHT IT WAS AN INTERESTING PIECE SO HE THOUGHT HE WOULD GIVE IT TO THE GALT. THE RADIOSONDE REPRESENTS A CONNECTION BETWEEN GRUDNISKI’S PAST AS A METEOROLOGIST AND HIS PRESENT AS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY OF LETHBRIDGE. LEO GRUDNISKI WAS A METEOROLOGIST IN THE LATE 1940S AND EARLY 1950S. HE GOT INTO METEOROLOGY BECAUSE HE WAS OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. MOST OF HIS TRAINING OCCURRED ON THE JOB. HE WAS STATIONED IN PRINCE GEORGE, BC IN 1947, ON SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND, NUNAVUT FROM 1947-1949 AND FINALLY ON THE PACIFIC WEATHER SHIP IN ST. CATHARINE’S, ONTARIO FROM 1950-1952. AFTER HE LEFT THE PACIFIC WEATHER SHIP, LEO WENT BACK TO UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY. AFTER GRADUATING, HE WORKED FOR CANADIAN WESTERN NATURAL GAS (NOW ATCO). HE SPENT HIS TIME WITH THAT COMPANY IN CALGARY AND LATER IN LETHBRIDGE. GRUDNISKI RETIRED IN 1987. SINCE THEN HE HAS BECOME ACTIVE IN THE LETHBRIDGE SENIOR CITIZENS ORGANIZATION. HE WAS PRESIDENT FOR 3 YEARS FROM 1989-1992. FOLLOWING HIS TENURE AS PRESIDENT HE SERVED AS PAST RESIDENT FOR NEARLY NINE YEARS SINCE PAST PRESIDENTS KEPT PASSING AWAY. THROUGHOUT HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE LSCO HE ENCOURAGED SENIORS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE ORGANIZATION THROUGH VOLUNTEERISM. HE ALSO STARTED THE PUBLICATION KNOWN AS “THE LETHBRIDGE SENIOR CITIZEN” AND EDITED IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS. GRUDNISKI WROTE ARTICLES FOR THE “LETHBRIDGE HERALD” AND DID TV SPOTS ON SHAW CABLE. GRUDNISKI “CONTINUE(S) TO PROVIDE ARTICLES (FOR THE LETHBRIDGE SENIOR CITIZEN) WHICH ARE OF A LIGHTER NATURE AND REFLECT INCIDENTS OF WHICH (HE) IS FAMILIAR.” GRUDNISKI’S CAREER AS A METEOROLOGIST SPECIALIZED IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE, SPECIFICALLY THE TROPOSPHERE. HE TESTED IT FOR PRESSURE TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY. THE INFORMATION WAS THEN PASSED ON TO THE WEATHER CENTERS WHERE IT WAS ANALYZED AND USED TO PREDICT WEATHER APPROACHING SPECIFIC AREAS I.E.) THE FORECAST. PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENTS THAT COULD MEASURE THE TROPOSPHERE, LAND STATIONS, WHICH UTILIZED TOOLS LIKE THE STEVENSON SCREEN, WERE USED TO DETERMINE WEATHER CONDITIONS. “SOUNDING,” THE MEASUREMENT OF CONDITIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE, ALLOWED METEOROLOGISTS TO OBTAIN A BROADER VIEW OF THE APPROACHING WEATHER. A RADIOSONDE IS THE INSTRUMENT THAT ALLOWED METEOROLOGISTS TO MEASURE THE CONDITIONS IN THE TROPOSPHERE. THE PLASTIC LOOP ON THE TOP OF THE RADIOSONDE WOULD BE CONNECTED TO A SYNTHETIC BALLOON BY A CORD. THE BALLOON WAS EITHER FILLED WITH HELIUM OR HYDROGEN. IN GRUDNISKI’S CASE, HE AND HIS COWORKERS MADE THEIR OWN HYDROGEN, AS IT HAS A BETTER LIFT CAPACITY THAN HELIUM. THE SYNTHETIC BALLOON WAS MADE OF A MATERIAL THAT HAD A GREAT CAPACITY FOR THE EXPANSION WHICH WOULD OCCUR AS THE ATMOSPHERE GOT THINNER. GRUDNISKI SAID, “UP IN THE ARCTIC, THE BALLOON WILL EXPAND AND EVENTUALLY FRACTURE. THE BALLOON AND THE INSTRUMENT WOULD COME DOWN. ONCE, WHEN THE INSTRUMENT CAME DOWN, AN INUIT FAMILY THOUGHT THE INSTRUMENT WAS THE DEVIL. THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS AND THEY WERE CONFUSED.” THE CASE OF THE RADIOSONDE WAS MADE OF LIGHTWEIGHT HARD MATERIAL. GRUDNISKI SAID, “THE OLD VERSION DIDN’T HAVE STYROFOAM – IT WAS KEPT IN LIGHTWEIGHT, HARD CARDBOARD CONTAINERS.” IT HOUSED A RADIO AND BATTERIES THAT MEASURED TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE AND HUMIDITY – THE MAIN ELEMENTS IN WEATHER. THE RADIO WORKED ON HIGH FREQUENCY AND TRANSMITTED DATA CONTINUOUSLY. THE DATA WAS THEN USED TO PREDICT THE WEATHER. THE NATURE OF THE INSTRUMENT DICTATED THE MANNER IN WHICH IT WAS CONSTRUCTED. “RADIOS AND BATTERIES WERE SMALL… BECAUSE THEY FELL TO THE GROUND AFTER THE BALLOON EXPANDED THEY HAD TO BE CHEAPLY MADE, ONE TIME USE UNITS. THE BATTERY THAT POWERED THE RADIO WOULD LIKELY ONLY LAST A COUPLE OF HOURS. EVEN BEFORE THAT, THE BALLOON WOULD POP (IN LESS THAN AN HOUR). SOMETIMES THAT BALLOON WOULD GET UP TO 50,000 FEET HIGH, DEPENDING ON THE CONDITIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE. OF HIS CAREER IN WEATHER GRUDNISKI SAID, “I SHOULD ALSO INFORM YOU OF TWO PROGRAMS ON WHICH I WAS INVOLVED AS METEOROLOGICAL OFFICER IN CHARGE OF THE PACIFIC WEATHER SHIP IN THE EARLY 1950’S AND WERE NOT PART OF DUTIES. SOME AMERICAN PILOTS RETURNING TO THE USA FROM JAPAN IN 1950 WERE ARRIVING WELL AHEAD OF THEIR ETA (ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL). I WAS ASKED TO UNDERTAKE A PROGRAM TO ANALYZE UPPER AIR CURRENTS. WE HAD WAR TIME RADAR EQUIPMENT ON THE SHIP AND I ARRANGED TO HAVE RADAR TARGETS MADE UP BY A CRAFT SHOP IN VICTORIA. THESE HAD TO BE LIGHT IN WEIGHT TO BE CARRIED ALOFT WITH THE RADIOSONDE INSTRUMENT. THEY WERE MADE OF BALSA WOOD AND TINFOIL. SINCE THIS WAS WELL BEFORE COMPUTERS WE HAD A SET UP, A SEQUENCE OF RADAR READINGS AND MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS TO DETERMINE WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED. WE FOUND AN AIR STREAM THAT EXCEEDED 160 KNOTS AND TODAY IT COULD BE WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS THE JET STREAM. THE OTHER PROGRAM I UNDERTOOK WAS TO ANALYZE PRECIPITATION. THE SOVIET UNION IN 1951 WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH NUCLEAR ACTIVITY AND THERE WAS GREAT CONCERN SINCE MUCH OF THIS WAS CONSIDERED HARMFUL AND DANGEROUS. WE WORKED IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF B.C. IN VANCOUVER. WE THEN SET UP A COLLECTION BASIN HIGH IN THE MAIN MAST TO COLLECT PRECIPITATION. FROM THIS PRECIPITATION WE WERE ABLE TO DETECT MAN MADE RADIOACTIVITY AND IN ONE PARTICULAR CASE WE DETERMINED THAT IT HAD CIRCLED THE GLOBE THREE TIMES.”

Catalogue Number

P20100018000

Acquisition Date

2010-04

Collection

Museum

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