Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project: Atmospheric data from the 2023 annular and 2024 total solar eclipses

The Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) is a student-centered
STEM education and research initiative that leveraged the October 14, 2023
annular eclipse and April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse for authentic
learning opportunities. The NEBP consisted of 53 student-led teams,
including 19 teams that focused on atmospheric science research. These
Atmospheric Science student teams flew up to 30 radiosondes during the
annular and total solar eclipses, reaching altitudes of 100,000 ft -
115,000 ft (30,000 m - 35,000 m). In addition, NEBP teams collected
high-temporal resolution surface-site data. This design provided surface,
lower, and middle atmospheric observations with enough spatial and
temporal sampling to contrast the meteorological differences before,
during, and after the eclipse. The surface stations provided independent
measurements of solar irradiance at the surface. All flight phases were
led by students, including radiosonde initialization, balloon fill,
launch, real-time data quality checks, and preliminary data analysis in
the field. This dataset is for the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse
flights. Visit eclipse.montana.edu for more NEBP information.