Development of biodegradable mini-radiosondes for measuring fluctuations in pressure, temperature, humidity, velocity within warm clouds. Thesis associated with the European project H2020 MSCA ITN ETN COMPLETE

The microphysical processes that take place inside warm clouds are a source of uncertainty for current meteorology: several gaps exist in the knowledge of the growth of droplets in the clouds and the subsequent development of rain. One of the factors that makes it very uncertain is the role that turbulence plays in the microphysical processes that involve the growth of droplets: CCN (Cloud Condensation Nuclei), condensation, collision. The important knowledge lack present on the subject is probably due to the limited amount of data taken in the field, with sensors transmitting data from the clouds. Even less has been, until now, the data captured by a probe capable of faithfully following the trajectories of the current in the clouds, that is in a Lagrangian way. The COMPLETE project, a Horizon2020 programme, was created to broaden the knowledge science has about the interaction between turbulence (from small to large scales) and microphysical phenomena in the clouds, thanks to the use of a floating, disposable, biodegradable, radio probe capable of transmitting data in real time to a ground receiver on pressure, temperature, humidity, trajectory and speed. In particular, in this thesis, after having discussed and illustrated the current gaps in knowledge on the subject, it is intended to report: the main components of the radiosonde; the operating principle; the assembly procedures optimised by the author in the IIT laboratories; the first data captured by the probe.