Do weather balloons fly? float? rise? etc..?

Question

not sure how to descibe what they "do".

Answer 1

They float. They are a balloon.

Answer 2

Weather balloons are released only to find out the meteorological elements such as temperature, pressure, humidity, wind direction and speed at different levels in the atmospheree.So,it should rise only and not fly or float.The balloons rise steadily and pass the data with the help of the transmitter attached.They usually burst at a height of 20 to 30 Kms as they are going on expanding due to decreasing atmospheric pressure.
But occasionally they float.This happens when there is heavy rain and ice starts forming over the balloon when it reaches the freezing level.Due to the weight of the ice over the balloon, it starts floating and sometimes starts descending.Once it comes down below freezing level,ice melts and falls allowing the balloon to rise again.While ascending,it encounters the same problem,and starts comimg down and this will be going on for sometime before it bursts.Sometimes,if the rain stops during this period,the balloon may escape from this problem and start rising again.
So,balloons will be floating near the freezing level(slightly going up and down) in such cases.
We can come to know about this problem from the fact that temperature values will be fluctuating about the freezing level(temperature becoming positve and negative alternatively) and the increasing and decreasing height shown by the tracking radar.To overcome this problem,more than the normal amount of gas is filled whenever there is heavy rain.Sometimes they may seem to be flying as they are carried away by strong winds at that level.So they are carried away by winds and at the same time rising also.
I myself have taken many balloon observations and noticed the above mentioned phenomena.

Answer 3

Weather balloons are best described as being buoyant.

It is easiest to envision as a ping pong ball being held at the bottom of a swimming pool. It will rise to the top of the water since the water it displaces is much more than the mass of the ping pong ball.

Same is true of the balloon. The air it displaces is more than the weight of the balloon, gas, and instrument that it carries.

The balloon will rise as long as the air it displaces is more than that weight. Since the gas in the balloon only partially fills the balloon, it can expand and displace more and more air as the atmospheric pressure decreases and the density becomes less.

Most weather balloons actually burst before they reach that equilibrium level. Most burst between 95,000 and 105,000 feet.

Answer 4

I,ve seen them fly,float and rise but never seen one etc.