RESULTS OF BALLOON-BORNE ION CONDUCTIVITY INTERCOMPARISON MEASUREMENTS FROM HYDERABAD

This paper presents the results of a study based on simultaneous measurements of conductivity profiles measured with Gerdien condensers and DC probes on four balloon flights conducted from Hyderabad (17.5 degrees N, 78.6 degrees E) during 1985-'89. An interesting phenomenon that occurred during these flights was the charging of the gondola to large positive potentials of several volts. The conductivity values show less than a factor of two to an order of magnitude differences between the different probe results. The profiles show strong dependence on the geometry and configuration of the probes as well as their location and orientation over the gondola. From the cases analyzed here it is shown how the Gerdien condensers under estimated the true ion parameters.