Definition
An expendable weather-sensing instrument package released from an aircraft in flight. As it descends by parachute, it measures atmospheric properties such as temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind, and transmits the data by radio to the aircraft or a ground station.
Plain English
A small sensor dropped from an airplane that floats down on a parachute, taking weather readings on the way down and radioing them back.
Context Anchor
Seen in weather reconnaissance, especially when aircraft collect data over oceans, storms, or remote areas where there are few weather stations.
Derivation
Built from 'drop' (released downward) plus 'sonde,' from the French word meaning a probe or sounding device used to measure something at a distance. So a dropsonde is literally a probe that is dropped.
Why Pilots Care
Provides real-time vertical profiles of the atmosphere that improve weather forecasts and flight safety decisions on meteorological missions.
Grounding Statement
Picture a small weather sensor falling under a parachute and reporting what the air is like at each level on the way down.
Intuition Check
A dropsonde is not just something dropped from an airplane. It is a weather instrument dropped on purpose to measure the atmosphere below the aircraft.
Example Sentence 1
The hurricane hunter aircraft released a dropsonde into the eyewall to measure the storm's central pressure.
Example Sentence 2
Forecasters used dropsonde readings to update the expected track and intensity of the storm system.