The photo at right shows one of our balloons for the ICARTT campaign approximately one minute after launch from the "Lobster Pound" on White Horse Beach in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This was the first launch from the back of a vehicle, a proceedure that gives the ability target specific pollution events. The mobile launch consists of ballasting the balloon in a garage, stuffing it into a minivan, and driving it briskly to the launch site. To increase the initial ascent rate, the balloon is superheated during the last twenty minutes of the trip by rolling up to the windows and turning the vehicle's heat on high. At the launch site, the tailgate is opened and the balloon is tossed out the back. The photo at left, taken from the same location, but looking west, shows the New York pollution plume after its transit over Long Island, Conneticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Note the much clearer air in the right photo (looking northeast). The balloon (and polluted air) arrived in Saint John Canada at approximately 12 hours later.






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