Meteorological Rocket Soundings in the Arctic

Some thirty upper atmosphere rocket soundings have been made in t h e Arctic so far in t h e International Geophysical Year t o measure temperature , pressure, density and winds. Aerobees in the various models and NikeCajuns have been t h e vehicles. The experiments have included the freely-falling sphere for measuring densit ies , the rocket-grenade experiment for measuring pressures and densit ies in t h e supersonic flow, yielding the ambient condit ions by theoretical conversion. Data from a number of these firings have been reduced and compared to those taken at other lat i tudes . The preliminary analysis indicates different temperature, pressure and density distribut ions than elsewhere. Also, these parameters seem to be more sensitive to the t i m e of measurement than at lower lat i tudes .