NASA to send unmanned drone 2 miles high to study radiation during eclipse

April 5 (UPI) -- NASA researchers are planning to study changes in the sun's radiation during the solar eclipse via an unmanned aircraft on Monday.

The team of six researchers from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., will travel to Fort Drum, N.Y., to study the eclipse with a specially modified Alta X Uncrewed Aircraft System, NASA said in a release.

Researchers will attach weather sensors, similar to those used by the National Weather Service on daily weather balloons, to the aircraft and fly it to a maximum altitude of nearly 2 miles, which is higher than the UAS has ever flown, according to NASA.

The aircraft will collect data on temperature, relative humidity, pressure and wind to test an alternative data collection from standard weather balloons higher in the troposphere, the lowest part of Earth's atmosphere where weather occurs.

Experiments with weather balloons use instruments called dropsondes, which collect atmospheric data as they float down to earth. Radiosondes are dropsondes attached to an aircraft, like the UAS.

Jennifer Fowler, principal investigator and mission commander, said the UAS holds promise for rapid deployment with repeated measurements, compared to weather balloons.

"Typically, atmospheric data collection from instruments on board aircraft is done using balloons as the platform that, once released, are not recovered," Fowler said. "UAS allow for the opportunity to conduct repeated profiles since the radiosonde is recovered after each flight."

Solar eclipses are one of a number of "forcing events" that drive some type of sudden weather change. Other examples are volcanic eruptions and wildfires.

The predictability of an eclipse, however, allows scientists the opportunity to study its impact on the planetary boundary layer, the lowest part of the troposphere.

NASA on Friday released images of astronauts wearing solar viewing glasses, or "eclipse glasses."

Eclipse glasses with ISO 12312-2 international standard filters are required to safely look directly at the Sun during a solar eclipse.

Viewing any part of the sun without proper ISO-compliant eyewear will cause severe eye damage.