Balloon Telemetry Analysis

2 years of U4B pico balloon data (Jan 2024 - Jan 2026)

- Total Flights
- Temperature Readings
- Coldest Recorded
- Warmest Recorded

Temperature by Altitude

Temperature by Sun Position

Temperature by Latitude Zone

Scatter: Temperature vs Altitude

Hardware Design Parameters

Based on wrap-corrected temperature data from 57,238 balloon flights.

Parameter Value Notes

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Download Database (98 MB)

About This Data

Data Source

Telemetry from U4B pico balloon trackers collected via wspr.live. The U4B protocol encodes temperature in the WSPR signal, allowing tracking of balloon environmental conditions.

Temperature Wrap Correction

U4B encodes temperatures from -50°C to +39°C. When temperatures go below -50°C, they "wrap" to appear as warm readings (+38°C, +37°C, etc.). We detected and corrected 5,489 wrapped readings (1.34% of data), revealing actual temperatures down to -68°C.

Key Insight

Daytime is colder than nighttime at cruise altitude! Solar heating causes balloons to rise higher during the day, where temperatures are lower. Average day temp: -9°C, night: -4°C.