Infield mini radio-probes measurements of physical fluctuations inside warm clouds and environmental air

Clouds are the key element that regulates the water cycle and the earth's energy balance. Nowadays, it is well known that the phenomena of cloud formation, droplet dynamics and turbulence are closely related; however, the reciprocal effects, descriptive and predictive models are still an open field of research. One of the reasons why the study of these phenomenologies is particularly challenging is the difficulty of being able to obtain accurate experimental data. For large scales, measurement campaigns are already being carried out, using large balloons or through appropriately equipped aircraft. For small scales, however, it is still challenging to be able to sample the characteristics of the atmosphere in a Lagrangian manner, for these reasons the COMPLETE H2020 project was born. It has the purpose of investigating these topics by making use of a new type of radiosonde, designing it, assembling it and launching it to collect new data. These radioprobes will necessarily have to be ultralight and biodegradable. They, floating on an isopycnic surface will collect thermodynamic (temperature, humidity, pressure) and positioning (position, velocity, acceleration) data and send them to ground receiving stations. In the course of this work, the basic aspects of turbulence and warm cloud physics will be explained; then, the components of the probe, the process of balloon sizing and realization will be described. At the end, a new experiment carried out in Valle d'Aosta where the probes were free to fly without constraints will be presented and the results will be discussed. To conclude, the current situation of the project will be summarized and analyzed, and upcoming goals and possible improvements will be presented.