A Novel Method of Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Radiosondes

Radiosondes are at the forefront of the discussion on sustainability in meteorology. The exiting standards for lifecycle assessments require adoption to the specific needs of radiosondes by the industry. In particular, the cradle-touse impact and the end-of-life impact of radiosondes are key metrics. As a first order approximation, proxy metrics of select radiosonde models are compared. These are primarily targeted at cradle-to-use impact, but can be used as a first order approximation for the end-of-life impact as well. Novel ways of radiosonde recovery and reuse are discussed, but their net effect still needs to be evaluated.