气象站是如何预测天气的？

您正在收听的是《Brains On》，我们认真对待每一个好奇心。

You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.

《Brains On》节目部分由美国国家科学基金会的资助支持。

Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

嘀嘀。我宣布会议开始，各位鹅同胞们。有鹅向我反映，当我们每年迁徙时，我们的大群鹅...是鸟群，加里。什么？嘀？

Honk honk. I call this meeting to order, fellow geese. It has been honked to my attention that when we migrate every year and our big gaggles It's a flock, Gary. Excuse me? Honk?

在地面上我们叫鹅群，在天上就叫鸟群。随便啦。我说到哪了？当我们每年以鸟群形式迁徙时，人类为预测天气设置的多普勒雷达，我们庞大的鹅群就会出现在他们的雷达上。

It's a gaggle of geese when we're on the ground. When we're in the sky, it's a flock. Any honk. Where was I? When we migrate every year in our flocks, the Doppler radars that humans have set up to help them predict the weather, well, our big geese group shows up on their radars.

没错。我知道。这很令人兴奋。我提议今年我们为雷达准备点特别节目，给那些人类好好表演一番。

Yes. I know. It's quite thrilling. I propose that this year we do something really special for the radar. Give those humans a good show.

让我们飞成一个特殊队形，在雷达上清晰可见。给他们点值得呱呱叫的东西。飞成甜甜圈形状怎么样？人类超爱甜甜圈。说得对，加文。

Let's fly in a special formation that will really read on the radar. Give them something to honk about. How about we fly in the shape of a donut? Humans love donuts. That's true, Gavin.

他们确实喜欢。

They certainly do.

也许是个手机的形状？它们就爱盯着那玩意儿看。

Maybe the shape of a phone? They love staring at those things.

又一个不错的建议，盖尔。哦，等等，我有主意了。

Another valid suggestion, Gail. Oh, wait. I've got it.

一个V形。

A v.

为什么是V形？为了向人类展示鹅的价值吗？

Why a v? To show the humans that geese are valuable?

有远见。

Visionary.

胜利。很好。勇敢。嘎。就飞成V字形吧。

Victorious. Very good. Valiant. Honk. A flying v it is.

您正在收听的是8PM工作室出品的《大脑开窍》。我是主持人莫莉·布鲁姆，今天的联合主持人是来自加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥的佩德罗。你好，佩德罗。你好，莫莉。《大脑开窍》是一个非营利的公共广播节目，这意味着我们依靠听众的支持来维持节目运行。

You're listening to Brains On from 8PM studios. I'm your host, Molly Bloom, and my cohost today is Pedro from San Diego, California. Hi, Pedro. Hi, Molly. Brains On is a nonprofit public radio program, which means we rely on support from our listeners to keep the show going.

有很多方式可以支持我们的节目。

There's lots of ways you can support the show.

你可以捐款、成为Smarty Pass订阅用户、购买我们的周边商品，或者来看我们的现场演出。请访问brainson.org/fans来支持我们。谢谢。佩德罗，今天能和你共同主持我超级兴奋。我也是。

You can donate, become a Smarty Pass subscriber, buy our merch, or come see us live. Head to brainson.org/fans to help support us. Thank you. I am super excited to be cohosting with you today, Pedro. Me too.

今天，我们要回答来自佐治亚州夏普斯堡的马克斯提出的这个精彩问题。

And today, we're answering this excellent question sent to us by Max from Sharpsburg, Georgia.

他写道：气象站是如何预测天气的？莫莉，那个声音是从你手机里传来的吗？

He wrote, how do weather stations predict the weather? Molly, is that sound coming from your phone?

哦，哎呀。是的。那是我的'天气肯定语'应用。你的什么应用？天气肯定语。

Oh, oops. Yep. That's my Waffirmations app. Your what app? Weather affirmations.

它会给我发送结合了肯定语的天气更新，你知道，就是那些帮助你感觉良好的积极陈述。来，听听。

It sends me weather updates combined with affirmations, you know, positive statements that help you feel good. Here, listen.

让雪花在呼啸的西风中起舞。你是一座温暖欢愉的舒适堡垒。任何狂风或雪花都无法动摇你的精神。

Let the snowflurries dance on the westward winds howl. You are a cozy fortress of warmth and cheer. No gust or flake can rattle your spirit.

飘小雪了？哦，天哪。我今天毛衣绝对穿得不够。

Snowflurries? Oh, man. I'm definitely not wearing enough sweaters today.

你穿了几件毛衣？

How many sweaters are you wearing?

四件。外面还套了件毛衣背心让整体造型更协调。总之，我的Waffirmations天气应用说这周末应该会回暖。所以佩德罗，我想知道，你会关注天气预报吗？

Four. And a sweater vest on top to pull my look together. Anyway, my Waffirmations weather app says it should warm up by the end of the week. So Pedro, I'm wondering, do you keep track of what the weather's gonna be like?

不会。我以前戴苹果手表时会看，但现在不看了。

No. I used to have an Apple watch on me and I used to check, but not anymore.

你父母会用天气应用吗？会用？是吗？他们会跟你说，比如'佩德罗，穿上雨衣'或者'穿件毛衣'之类的话吗？

Do your parents use a weather app? Yeah. Yeah? Do they tell you like, oh, Pedro, please put on a rain jacket or please wear a sweater or anything like that?

他们总是让我穿外套。

They always make me wear a jacket.

好吧。听起来他们是在替你关注天气呢。你最喜欢什么样的天气？

Okay. So they're checking the weather for you, it sounds like. What is your favorite kind of weather?

大概是那种让我不用去上学的天气吧。

Probably the type of weather that doesn't make me have to go to school.

那你有没有最不喜欢的天气类型呢？

So do you have a least favorite kind of weather?

有时候我不喜欢去山上的雪地里，因为雪会跑进我的靴子里，有时候会弄湿袜子，冷得我只能把袜子脱掉。

Sometimes I don't like going up to the snow in the mountains because sometimes it gets inside my boots and sometime and I wet my socks and it's so cold that I have to take it off.

哦，明白了。所以你不是雪的粉丝。在圣地亚哥附近，你们会去山上吗？是的。

Oh, yes. Okay. So you're not a snow fan. So near San Diego, are there mountains you go to? Yeah.

真酷。在那里你确实能感受到冬天的雪天氛围。是的，这很有趣。所以你既能享受圣地亚哥的阳光明媚，又能在想去的时候体验冬季。

Cool. And so up there, you can actually feel like wintery snowy weather. Yeah. Well, that's fun. So you get like the nice sunny weather of San Diego, and then you can go to winter if you want.

无论你或你的父母如何获取天气信息，如果你住在美国，这些信息最初都来自一个叫做国家气象局的机构。

No matter how you or your parents get their weather info, if you live in The United States, that information originally came from something called the National Weather Service.

没错。如果你看本地新闻的天气预报，

Right. If you watch the weather forecast on the local news,

在线阅读、查看天气应用、询问Siri或Alexa或其他任何机器人助手，

read it online, check a weather app, ask Siri or Alexa or any other robot helper,

或者收到龙卷风即将来临的警告。

or get a warning that a tornado is on the way.

所有这些信息最初都来自国家气象局。没有国家气象局，我们所知的天气预报就不会存在。

All that information originally comes from the National Weather Service. Without the National Weather Service, the forecasts as we know them would not exist.

如果你住在美国以外的地方，你的国家可能也有类似的机构。

And if you live somewhere outside The US, your country probably has its own version of this.

国家气象局是美国唯一的官方天气预报机构。

The National Weather Service is the only official weather forecaster in The United States.

他们每年为全国各地的城市提供超过一百万份天气预报。

And they provide more than a million forecasts every year for cities all over the country.

这些预报基于国家气象局在气象站收集的数据。气象站是配备特殊设备的建筑，用于观测天气模式并预测未来变化。美国各地甚至世界其他地区分布着122个气象站。当我们不在Brains On总部时，Brains On团队也分布在全国各地。因此，我们中的一些人参观了当地的气象站，以了解更多关于他们如何进行预测的信息。

These forecasts are based on data that the National Weather Service collects at weather stations. Weather stations are buildings with special equipment for watching weather patterns and trying to figure out what will happen next. There are 122 weather stations spread out all over The US and even in other parts of the world. When we're not at Brains On headquarters, the Brains On team is also spread out all around the country. So a few of us visited our own local weather stations to learn more about how they make their predictions.

我们的朋友尼科·冈萨雷斯·惠斯勒拜访了新泽西州霍利山的一个气象站，他们来和我们分享见闻。你好，尼科。

Our pal, Nico Gonzalez Whistler, visited a weather station in Mount Holly, New Jersey, and they're here to tell us about it. Hi, Nico.

你好，莫莉。你好，佩德罗。

Hi, Molly. Hi, Pedro.

那么气象站是什么样的？

So what was the weather station like?

嗯，我参观的这个气象站负责监测新泽西州、特拉华州和宾夕法尼亚州的部分地区。我和几位气象学家聊了聊——这是研究天气的人的另一种称呼。你好，你是莎拉吗？

Well, the station I visited keeps track of parts of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. I talked with some meteorologists. That's another word for someone who studies the weather. Hi. Are you Sarah?

我是。我是尼科。

I am. I'm Nico.

你好，尼科。很高兴

Hi, Nico. Nice to

见到你。最近怎么样？很好。很高兴认识你。

meet you. How's it going? Good. Nice to meet you.

如果我

If I

能请您在这里签个名，只需写上您的名字和日期就可以了。

could just have you sign in just that your name and date is good enough.

这个气象站的气象学家们全天候工作，制作天气预报并发布天气警报。这大部分工作都是通过卫星和雷达完成的。

The meteorologists at this station work around the clock to create forecasts and put out weather alerts. A lot of this is done using satellite and radar.

哦，是的。我听说过那些。气象卫星高悬于地球表面之上的太空，这些卫星上装有特殊设备，可以测量温度、云量以及我们大气层中的许多其他数据。有些还装有对准地球的摄像头，可以每三十秒拍摄一次照片。

Oh, yeah. I've heard of those. Weather satellites are up in space high above the Earth's surface, and these satellites have special equipment on them to measure temperature, cloud cover, and lots of other things in our atmosphere. And some have cameras pointed at the Earth that can take pictures every thirty seconds.

幸好地球不怕拍照。

It's a good thing Earth isn't camera shy.

没错。人们也使用雷达来研究和预测天气。这些雷达设置在地面上。全美各地都有雷达站。它们通常由一个高塔组成，顶部有一个看起来像大白球的装置。

Right. People also use radar to study and predict the weather. These are on the ground. There are radar stations all across The US. They're usually made up of a tall tower with a big white globe looking thing on top of it.

看，这里有一张其中一座雷达站的照片。

Look, here's a picture of one of them.

对我来说，它们看起来有点像巨大的乒乓球。

To me, they kind of look like giant ping pong balls.

哦，确实很像。这些雷达站通过发射无线电波来工作。

Oh, they do look like that. These radar stations work by sending out radio waves.

无线电波是一种不可见的能量，携带着许多非常酷的信息。如果你家里或车里有老式收音机，那就是利用无线电波来发出声音的。

Radio waves are a type of invisible energy that carries a lot of really cool information. If you have an old fashioned radio at home or in your car, that uses radio waves to make sound.

没错。就雷达而言，无线电波会撞击空气中的物体，比如雨、雪或冰雹，然后反弹回雷达站。

Exactly. In the case of radar, the radio waves bump into stuff in the air like rain, snow, or hail, and then bounce back to the radar station.

哦，听起来就像蝙蝠使用回声定位的方式。

Oh, it sounds like how bats use echolocation.

是的。回声定位是蝙蝠发出高音调的声音，声音会反弹到周围的物体上。它们能感知到声音何时返回，并将这些信息转化为对周围环境的图像。

Yeah. Echolocations is when bats make a high pitched noise and it bounces off stuff around them. They can sense when that sound comes back to them and turn that information into a picture of the world.

蝙蝠用回声定位来探测树木或美味的昆虫。而气象学家则利用雷达信息来判断风暴的位置和移动方向。他们在霍利山使用的雷达塔将信息传回气象站的屏幕。当该地区有风暴时，屏幕上会显示巨大的、几乎像云一样的物体在移动。

Bats use their echolocation to detect things like trees or tasty bugs. And meteorologists use the radar information to tell where the storm is and what direction it's moving in. The radar tower that they use in Mount Holly sends information to a screen back in the weather station. When there are storms in the area, the screen will show big, almost cloud shaped objects moving around.

哦，是的。就像电视上的天气预报那样。

Oh, yeah. Like the weather reports on TV.

没错。在气象站里有一堆屏幕，这样气象学家就能查看来自整个区域的不同雷达和卫星报告。

Right. At the weather station, there were a bunch of screens so that the meteorologists could look at different radar and satellite reports from all over the area.

你看到这里有一条非常清晰的边界吗？是的。那就是我们预计本周晚些时候会到来的冷锋。

You see that there's like a very sharp edge here? Yes. That's the cold front that we're expecting later this week.

好的。所以你们有太空中的卫星和地面上的雷达塔。这是唯一的区别吗？为什么两者都要使用？

Okay. So you've got satellites in space and radar towers on the ground. Is that the only difference? Why do they use both?

嗯，它们都能提供非常重要的信息。当我看着屏幕上的雷达图像时，我只能看到两个州的部分地区，新泽西州和宾夕法尼亚州。但天空中的卫星显示了这两个州，再加上纽约州、特拉华州、马里兰州、弗吉尼亚州和北卡罗来纳州。这就像鸟瞰图，只不过这只鸟是在太空里。气象站的一位气象学家莎拉·约翰逊解释了它的工作原理。

Well, they both give you really important information. When I looked at the radar image on the screen, I can only see parts of two states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But the satellite in the sky showed those two states plus New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. It's like a bird's eye view if the bird was in space. One of the meteorologists at the weather station, Sarah Johnson, explained how it works.

所以当我们看卫星图像时，我们通常只看云层的顶部。而雷达，我们可以扫描云层的底部、中部，甚至是云层的顶部。如果你这样想，卫星就像是从蛋糕顶部拍一张照片，只看蛋糕的表面，而雷达实际上是切下一片蛋糕，能够看清楚它到底有多少层。蛋糕。

So when we're looking at satellite, we're generally only looking at the tops of the clouds. Whereas radar, we can be scanning at the bottom of the cloud, in the middle of the cloud, or even up at the top of the cloud. If you think about, it this way, satellite is like taking a picture at the top of a cake and just looking at the top of the cake, whereas radar is actually taking a slice of the cake and being able to see exactly how many layers of cake it is. Cake.

因为卫星显示的区域更大，它们有助于监测从更远地方逼近的风暴。然后当风暴靠近时，他们就可以使用雷达来获取关于风暴具体情况的更多信息。

Because satellites show a larger area, they're helpful for monitoring storms that are approaching from farther away. Then when the storms get closer, they can use the radar to get more information about what exactly the storm is doing.

哇，太酷了。谢谢你跟我们分享你的旅行经历，尼科。

Wow. That is cool. Thank you for telling us about your trip, Nico.

不客气。我得去研究我的超级秘密热可可配方了。听说今天

My pleasure. I gotta go start working on my super secret hot cocoa recipe. I hear it's supposed to snow this

下午会下雪。可可。

afternoon. Cocoa.

再见，尼科。

Bye, Nico.

再见，你们也是。

Bye, you too.

大脑。另一个

Brains. Another

气象站追踪天气的方式是用气球，我有机会出去看了一个。稍后我们会了解更多。但首先，现在是

way weather stations track weather is with balloons, and I got to go out and see one. We'll hear more about that in a bit. But first, it's time for the

神秘

Mystery

佩德罗，准备好听神秘声音了吗？

You ready for the mystery sound, Pedro?

嗯。

Yeah.

好的。来了。

Okay. Here it is.

你觉得是什么？我觉得像是那种笔记本，就是你用铅笔在上面划，然后就像画圈圈那样往下划，或者直接用手指划。

What do you think? I think it's like one of those notebooks, like when you put a pencil in it and you just, like, start going down like the circle things or you just do it with your finger.

好的。猜得真不错。我们要不要再听一遍，看看有没有其他想法？好。行。

Okay. That's a really good guess. Should we hear it again and see if any other thoughts pop up? Yeah. Okay.

开始了。

Here we go.

我觉得是门底下的那种门把手，就是当你转动它时，会发出那种声音？

I think it's one of those doorknobs on the bottom of the door that starts, like, doing that sound, like, when you move it around?

对。就像弹簧挡板那种，能发出弹簧的声响。是的。这个猜测很棒。我猜是有人把Tic Tacs薄荷糖掉在地上了。

Yeah. Like, stopper that's on a spring and it can make that, like, springy sound. Yeah. That is a really good guess. I'm gonna guess that it's someone dropping Tic Tacs on the floor.

哦。听起来确实像。我们稍后会在片尾揭晓答案，并有机会再次猜测。

Oh. That's what it sounds like to me. We're gonna find out and get another chance to guess after the credits.

所以别走开。

So stick around.

你有没有想过在太空中漂浮会是什么感觉？好吧，你很幸运。我们正在制作一集关于宇航员的节目，我们想知道你认为什么食物对宇航员在太空中最难食用？会飞的豌豆、一碗麦片加牛奶。可能性太多了。

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to float around in space? Well, you're in luck. We're making an episode about astronauts, and we want to know what food do you think would be hardest for astronauts to eat in space? Flying peas, a bowl of cereal and milk. There's so many possibilities.

佩德罗，你觉得

Pedro, what do

怎么样？吃饼干可能挺难的。

you think? It'll probably be hard eating a cookie.

是啊。你为什么觉得这会很难？

Yeah. Why do you think it'll be hard?

可能是因为当你咀嚼它的时候，在嘴里它会漂浮起来，可能会碰到上颚，很难把它固定在牙齿上咀嚼。

Probably because when you're, like, chewing it, like, in your mouth, it, like, floats around, and it could hit the roof of your tongue, and it'd be hard to putting it on the teeth to chew it.

说得好。而且，把它泡在牛奶里也会非常困难。听众朋友们，我们想知道你们认为哪种食物在太空中难以食用以及原因。请录制你的答案并发送到brainson.org/contact。在那里你还可以发送你的神秘声音、图画和问题。

Good point. Also, it'd be really hard to dunk it in milk. Well, listeners, we wanna know what food you think would be hard to eat in space and why. Record your answer and send it to us at brains on dot org slash contact. While you're there, send us your mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.

就像这个。

Like this one.

情绪戒指是怎么工作的？

How do mood ring work?

在Moment of播客中寻找这类问题的答案，每个工作日为您带来简短的知识与乐趣。请访问brainson.org收听Moment of及其他节目。请继续收听。

Find answers to questions like this on the Moment of podcast, a short dose of facts and fun every weekday. Find Moment of and more at brainson dot org. And keep listening.

Brains On Universe是一个为儿童及其家人打造的播客系列。既然你是Brains On的粉丝，你一定会喜欢我们宇宙中的其他节目。来吧，让我们一起探索。

Brains On Universe is a family of podcasts for kids and their adults. Since you're a fan of Brains On, you'll love the other shows in our universe. Come on, let's explore.

锻炼时间到。当我拉伸我的面条身材并在蹦床上跳跃时，我会听一个新的播客。我打算试试《Smash Boom Best》，史上最棒的辩论播客。

Exercise hour. While I stretch my snoodles and bounce on my trampoline, I'll listen to a new podcast. I'm going to try Smash Boom Best, the best debate podcast ever.

告诉我们为什么《爱丽丝梦游仙境》拥有如此宏大的掌控力。

Tell us why Alice in Wonderland has such grand command.

放下节拍。女士们先生们，尊敬的《Smash Boom Best》评委。我想先用几句押韵开场。哟。在兔子洞里抓到我，被一场魔术秀迷住，就在那

Drop the beat. Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed judge of Smash Boom Best. I'd like to start with a few rhymes. Yo. Catch me in the rabbit hole, dazzle by a magic show by the

咻，播客快回来。现在必须听《Smash Boom Best》。

Zoop, come back here podcast. Must listen to Smash Boom Best now.

在您获取播客的任何地方收听《Smash Boom Best》。

Listen to Smash Boom Best wherever you get your podcasts.

在大灰狼度假村，全家人都能享受冒险。您和您的家人可以在恒温84华氏度的室内水上乐园尽情嬉水。这里有巨大的造浪池、懒人河以及众多水滑梯，包括全家可以一起享受的滑梯。乐趣还不止于此。准备好探索充满冒险的景点，如MagiQuest——一个在整个度假村内进行的真人实景游戏，还有北极光游乐场。

At Great Wolf Lodge, there's adventure for the whole family. You and your pack can splash away in the indoor water park where it's always a perfect 84 degrees. There is a massive wave pool, a lazy river, and tons of water slides, including ones that your family can all enjoy together. And the fun doesn't stop there. Get ready to explore adventure packed attractions like MagiQuest, a live action game that takes place throughout the lodge, plus the Northern Lights Arcade.

这里还有众多很棒的餐饮选择和免费的日常活动，比如每晚的舞会，所有这一切都在同一个屋檐下。我们在全国有23家度假村，您总是只需很短的车程就能抵达冒险之地。事实上，我很期待不久后和家人一起去体验东北地区的一家度假村。所以，带上您的家人，在您附近的度假村团聚吧。今天就登录greatwolf.com预订住宿，凝聚家人情谊。

There's also a bunch of great dining options and complimentary daily events like nightly dance parties all under one roof. With 23 lodges across the country, you're always only a short drive away from adventure. In fact, I'm excited to check out one of the Northeast lodges with my family soon. So bring your pack together at a lodge near you. Book your stay today at greatwolf.com and strengthen the pack.

那是greatwolf.com。

That's greatwolf.com.

大脑开启。

The brains on.

你正在收听《大脑开启》。我是佩德罗。

You're listening to brains on. I'm Pedro.

我是莫莉。今天，我们要讨论气象站以及它们用来预测天气的设备。我们刚刚了解了雷达和卫星。

And I'm Molly. Today, we're talking all about weather stations and the equipment they use to predict the weather. We just heard all about radar and satellites.

这两者对于追踪和理解风暴都至关重要。

Both are super important for tracking and understanding storms.

卫星能从高空俯瞰风暴的全貌，而雷达能告诉我们更多关于风暴内部的情况。气象站追踪天气的另一种方式是使用气球。我和我的《大脑开启》伙伴蕾切尔·布里兹，从我家开车大约三十分钟到明尼苏达州的查哈森去看一个。一切听起来都好吗，伙计？

Satellites get a big bird's eye view of storms, and radar can tell us more about what's going on inside a storm. Another way weather stations track the weather is with balloons. My Brain's On buddy, Rachel Breeze, and I drove about thirty minutes from my house to Chanhassen, Minnesota to see one. Is everything sounding good, dude?

是的。好的。嗯。嗯。如果需要我，就告诉我

Yep. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Let me know if I need the

布伦南·德特曼是查哈森气象站的气象学家。他工作的办公室里有很多电脑显示器，上面显示着地图、图表、曲线图以及实时交通摄像头的视频。

Brennan Detman is a meteorologist at the Chanhassen weather station. The office where he works has lots of computer monitors with maps and charts and graphs and video from live traffic cameras.

但你不是为了看屏幕来的，莫莉。

But you weren't there for the screens, Molly.

你说得对。我们是为了气象气球来的。它像气球动物吗？

You are correct. We were there for the weather balloon. Is it like a balloon animal?

但不是大象形状，而是闪电形状？

But instead of an elephant, it's a lightning bolt?

那会很棒。但不对，它只是一个非常大的气球，就像你为生日派对吹的那种。但这些气球不是彩色的，通常是白色的，而且不是用来装饰的。

That would be amazing. But no, it's just a really big balloon like the ones you would blow up for a birthday party. But these balloons aren't colorful. They're usually white. And they aren't for decoration.

它们是气象站的重要工具。查哈森气象站每天向天空发射两个气球，一个在早上6点，一个在下午6点。再来听听我们的气象学家朋友布伦南的介绍。

They're important tools for weather stations. The Chanhassen weather station launches two balloons into the sky every day. One at 6AM and one at 6PM. Here's our meteorologist friend Brennan again.

气象气球主要有两个组成部分。首先是测量数据的仪器，它被称为无线电探空仪。

So there are two main components to a weather balloon. So you have the first thing, which is the instrument that is measuring the data, which is called a radiosonde.

无线电探空仪是一个白色的小泡沫盒子，大约和我手掌一样大。那么它是用来做什么的呢？问得好。无线电探空仪非常重要，它上面装有传感器，用于在高空测量不同的数据，比如温度和湿度。

The radiosonde is a small white foam box about as big as the palm of my hand. So what's it for? Good question. The radiosonde is really important. It has sensors on it for measuring different things way up in the air, like temperature, humidity.

里面还有一个压力传感器和一个GPS追踪器，这样我们就能根据探空仪的位置来确定风速和风向。

And then there's a pressure sensor in there as well as a GPS tracker to allow us to determine wind speed and wind direction based on where the radiosonde is located.

气象学家让这个探空仪盒子上天的方式非常低科技，但很巧妙。他们拿一根长绳子，一端系在盒子上，另一端系在一个气球上。布伦南带我们去了车库，他们在那里给气象气球充氢气。氢气就像你给派对气球充的氦气一样会飘浮。

And the way meteorologists get this radiosonde box up into the sky is delightfully low tech. They take a long piece of string, tie one end around the box, and the other end to a balloon. Brennan took us to the garage where they fill the weather balloon with hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas floats just like the helium you put in party balloons.

所以整个过程，从我开始充气算起，大约需要十分钟。

So the whole process will take about, once I start filling up, about ten minutes.

充气需要十分钟，因为这是一个非常大的气球，比成年人还大。但除了它巨大的尺寸，它其实就像任何其他乳胶气球一样。在充气的同时，布伦南给探空仪盒子系上了一个橙色的小降落伞，然后用绳子把探空仪系在气球上。现在是发射时间了。

It takes ten minutes to fill up because it's a really big balloon, bigger than an adult. But besides its giant size, it's really like any other latex balloon. While it's filling up, Brennan attaches a little orange parachute to the radiosonde box and then ties the radiosonde to the balloon with string. And now it's launch time.

所以我走到远离那个遮蔽物的地方，以确保它不会试图飞向建筑物，从而可能爆裂或损坏仪器。准备就绪。好了。三，二，一。

So I go out away from the shelter there just to make sure it doesn't try to fly into the building and potentially pop or damage the instrument. And ready to go. Alright. Three, two, one.

气球带着探空仪迅速升上天空。我们还能看它飞一段路，但很快它就变得非常小，我们几乎看不见了。

The balloon zips up into the sky with the radiosonde attached. We can watch it for a ways, but soon enough, it's so small, we can barely see it.

哇。它能飞多高？

Woah. How high does it go?

非常高。大约离地10万英尺。这比大多数大型客机的飞行高度还要高三倍。随着它升入大气层，气球受到的压力减小，所以它会膨胀变得更大，大约有一辆校车那么宽。

Really high. About a 100,000 feet above the ground. That's three times higher than most big passenger planes. And as it goes up in the atmosphere, there's less pressure on the balloon, So it expands and gets even bigger, about as wide as a school bus.

那真是个非常大的气球。

That's a really big balloon.

我知道。这很疯狂。气球最终会膨胀到爆炸。然后无线电探空仪会借助它的橙色降落伞飘回地球。在这个过程中，它收集着其他方式难以获取的数据，并将其发送到气象站。

I know. It's wild. The balloon eventually expands so much that it pops. Then the radiosonde drifts back down to Earth with the help of its orange parachute. And along the way, it's collecting data that would be really hard to get otherwise and sending it to the weather station.

气象气球在整个大气层中提供关键数据，所有这些数据随后都会被输入气象模型，以帮助改进天气预报。所以这一切都是相辅相成的，非常酷。

Weather balloons provide that critical data throughout the entire atmosphere, and all that data is then put into weather models to help improve forecasting. So it all kinda goes hand in hand, which is pretty cool.

无线电探空仪的着陆点可能距离最初发射地点超过90英里。气象部门不担心回收它们，因为它们通常只使用一次。但由于这些设备的GPS数据是公开的，有些人喜欢在它们着陆时去追找，有点像一种游戏。听众们，如果你们想看看气象气球的样子并观看发射过程，我们在Instagram上发布了一个视频。我们的账号是brains_下划线on。

The radiosondes can land over 90 miles away from where they're first launched. The weather service doesn't worry about collecting them again because they're usually only used once. But since the GPS data from these is public, there are some people who like to chase them down when they land, kind of like a game. Listeners, if you wanna see what the weather balloon looks like and watch the launch, we posted a video on our Instagram. We're at brains underscore on.

现在从空中转向海洋。

Now from the air to the ocean.

因为事实证明，你也可以从水中了解天气。

Because it turns out you can learn about the weather from the water too.

我们的朋友桑丁·托顿参观了加利福尼亚海岸的一个气象站。他去那里了解气象浮标。

Our pal, Sandin Totten, visited a weather station on the coast of California. He went there to learn about weather buoys.

浮标是一种漂浮在水中的东西。

A buoy is something that floats in water.

国家气象局用它们来追踪海浪。

And the National Weather Service uses them to track the waves.

哦，那一定是桑丁进来了。

Oh, that must be sand in.

哎呀，不是。是我的'华夫饼肯定语'应用发来的另一个天气更新。

Oops. No. It's another weather update incoming from my Waffirmations app.

冰或许会覆盖道路，但你总能优雅地滑行而过。任何打滑或滑动都无法动摇你的步伐。

The ice may coat the roads, but as always, you glide through with grace. No slip or slide can unsteady your stride.

唉，结冰的路面。好吧，至少我还有Vanilla Ice的精选磁带可以听。

Ugh. Icy roads. Well, at least I've got Vanilla Ice's greatest hits on cassette.

莫莉，气象浮标的数据。

Molly, the weather buoys.

哦，抱歉。对。我最近特别喜欢通过二手店找到的磁带来重温我的青春。总之，我们来听听桑丁在气象站的访问中了解到了什么。

Oh, sorry. Right. I'm really into revisiting my youth through cassettes I find at secondhand stores right now. Anyway, let's hear what Sandin learned on his visit to that weather station.

大家好，我是桑丁。我现在在加利福尼亚州奥克斯纳德的美国国家气象局天气预报办公室，和我在一起的是

Hey. Sandin here. I'm in Oxnard, California at the National Weather Service weather forecast office, and I'm here with

瑞安·基特尔。我是这里的气象学家。我不仅研究水文气象（这是雨的一个花哨说法），还研究各种天气现象，尝试预测并告知大家。

Ryan Kittel. I am a meteorologist here. I get to study not just hydrometeors, which are like a fancy word for rain, but all sorts of weather and try to predict it and let everybody know about it.

今天的天气很美。我们站在外面，阳光明媚，有点微风，但我们身处办公室后面这个非常有趣的地方。我觉得它有点像花园，但不像有树木和植物，这里主要是些旧的气象仪器。比如有杆子，上面有东西在旋转。

And the weather today, it's beautiful. We're standing outside. It's sunny, little a breezy, but we're in this really interesting place behind your office. I would say it kind of looks like a garden, but instead of, like, trees and plants, there's mostly these old weather machines. So there's, like, poles with things spinning on them.

感觉有点像在机器人墓地。这是什么地方？

It kind of feels like we're in a robot graveyard. What is this place?

哦，老兄。我还没听人这么说过，但你说得有点道理。是的，这些都是退役的气象设备。我们有所谓的风速计，用来测量风速和风向，甚至还有一些能收集降雨量并告诉我们下了多少雨的测量仪。

Oh, man. I haven't heard it put that way, but you're kind of right. Yeah. They're all retired weather equipment. So we have things from what's called an anemometer, which is used to measure the wind speed and direction, and even some gauges that will collect rainfall and tell us how much rain is falling.

但我们还有气象浮标，就展示在这里。它们上下浮动。里面有一个很酷的仪器，一个传感器，和手机、任天堂Switch上的那种很像，能检测你倾斜控制器的方向。类似的一种叫做加速度计的仪器，可以检测浮标上下浮动的幅度，从而告诉我们海浪有多大。

But we also have weather buoys, which are displayed out here. They bob up and down. There's a cool instrument inside of it, a sensor inside of it that's very similar to things on phones and Nintendo Switches that can detect the way that you're tilting the controller. Similar type of instrument called an accelerometer that could actually detect when the buoy bobs up and down to tell how big the waves are.

你会怎么描述我们面前的这两个圆形浮标？

How would you describe these two round buoys in front of us?

它们急需重新刷漆。我会这么形容。油漆正在剥落。它们可能已经超过十年没有真正投入使用过了。那些在水里的实际上看起来更好。

They're in desperate need of a paint job. I'll describe it that way. There's paint peeling. They they haven't really seen service for probably over ten years. The ones that are out in the water actually look nicer.

它们上了漆，照明也很好，这确实帮助我们做出更好的预报，预测这些海浪有多大。因为如果你在船上，你不会希望有大浪，因为容易晕船。而且也可能非常危险。所以如果我们知道海浪有多大，我们就可以提醒人们，而这些浮标在这方面是非常有用的工具。

They're painted and well lit, and it really does help us to make better forecasts to predict how big these waves are. Because if you're on a boat, you don't want big waves because it's easy to get seasick. But it's also can be really dangerous. So if we know how big the waves are, we can alert people and these buoys are really big tools for that.

它们看起来有点像，我会说，像非常大的圣诞装饰球，或者也许，比如，那个底部是红色，顶部是白色的。它有点让我想起精灵球。你玩宝可梦吗？或者你知道宝可梦吗？

They kind of look like, I would say, like really big Christmas ornaments or maybe, like, that one's red on the bottom and white on the top. It kind of reminds me of a Pokeball. Do you play Pokemon at all or do you know about Pokemon?

我有三个孩子，他们肯定都迷宝可梦。是的。关于油漆和颜色就是这样。顶部白色底部红色，这个描述很贴切。它们很大。

I have three kids and they are all into Pokemon for sure. Yeah. That is it for the paint and color. It's a good description with the white on the top and the red on the bottom. They're big.

它们看起来有点像

They kinda look

那种巨大的健身球，有时候人们会坐在上面或者用它做仰卧起坐。

like those giant exercise balls sometimes people use to sit on or to do sit ups on.

是的。这个例子举得很好。就像那种大型健身球，顶部还装有灯，因为它们放置在船只航行的水域，这样船员就能看到它们，尤其是在夜晚，否则很容易撞上去，这对谁都不好。它们通过非常沉重的长链固定。

Yeah. That's a great example. One of those big exercise balls, and then it has a light on the top because they're out in the in the waters where boaters are so that boaters can see it, especially at night because otherwise, it'd be really easy to run over and that's not good for anybody. They are anchored by a very heavy long chain.

好吧。那链子可真够粗的。看起来像是用来锁住怪物之类的。确实像。

Okay. That is a beefy chain. It looks like something you'd chain up like a monster with maybe. It does.

绝对有那种感觉。

It definitely has that look.

从你的描述来看，这些似乎是相当简单的工具。它们漂浮在水里，内部有一个小装置测量倾斜度和上下浮动幅度。它们有灯以便人们能看到。但数据传到哪里？又是怎么传给你的呢？

These seem like they're pretty simple tools from what you're describing to me. They they float in the water. They kind of have a little device inside them that measure how much they're tilting and how much they're going up and down. They have a light so that people see them. But where does that data go and how do they get it to you?

这些浮标的顶部有一个无线电天线，数据通过无线电频率传输到海岸上的接收器。接收器获取数据后进行处理，然后发送到世界各地，包括我们办公室。通常可能会有十分钟的延迟，但整个过程相当快。浮标内部是什么在供电？这些特定的浮标实际上有一个非常大的电池。

So on top of these buoys are a radio antenna, and that signal, the data gets transmitted through a radio frequency to receivers on the coast. They'll get that data, they'll process it, then they'll send it out to the world, including to our office. There's usually maybe a ten minute delay, but it all happens pretty fast. What's powering all that inside the buoy? These particular ones actually have a really big battery.

有些浮标可能装有太阳能板，但它们确实配备了非常大的电池，并且需要定期更换。

Some of them might have a solar panel, but they do have really large batteries, and they do have to get replaced regularly.

哇，瑞恩，这真是太酷了。非常感谢你

Well, Ryan, this was so cool. Thank you so

向我们展示这一切。非常高兴你

much for showing us all this. So glad you

能来现场。也感谢你们的服务，退役的浮标们。

can come out. And thank you for your service, retired buoys.

人们追踪、测量和预测天气有各种不同的方法。

There are all different ways that people track, measure, and predict the weather.

比如雷达、卫星、气球和浮标。

Like radars, satellites, balloons, and buoys.

所有这些不同的气象数据不断被输入巨型超级计算机。就像超人比我们普通人强大一万倍一样，超级计算机比我们在家或学校用的电脑强大一万倍。这些计算机接收数据，并对天气变化做出预测。

And all of this different weather data is constantly being fed into giant supercomputers. Just like Superman is like 10,000 times stronger than us regular people, supercomputers are like 10,000 times stronger than the computers we have at home or school. These computers take the data and make predictions about what the weather will do.

他们拥有的数据越多，预测就会越准确。

The more data they have, the better the prediction will be.

这就是为什么气象服务使用如此多不同的工具，以便计算机能够尽可能全面地了解海洋、陆地和空中正在发生的情况。

That's why the weather service uses so many different tools so that the computer can get the best possible picture of what's going on at sea, on land, and in the air.

而且由于国家气象局是一项公共服务，每个人都可以使用这些预测。

And because the National Weather Service is a public service, everybody can use these predictions.

比如，可以用来制作一个天气/每日励志语录应用程序。

Like, for example, to make a weather slash daily affirmations app.

即便是这个周末的阳光，也无法掩盖你的光芒与温暖。

Not even this weekend sun can outshine your brightness and warmth.

晴天？哇。可以用来计划一次野餐。国家气象局运营着超过100个独立的气象站。

A sunny day? Woah. To plan a picnic. The National Weather Service operates more than 100 separate weather stations.

这些气象站每年在全国范围内进行超过一百万次天气预报。

These stations make more than a million weather forecasts a year across the country.

他们使用雷达、卫星、气象气球和气象浮标等设备来制作这些预报。

They make these forecasts using equipment like radar, satellites, weather balloons, and weather buoys.

并且他们使用世界上最强大的计算机来处理所有数据。

And they process it all by using the strongest computers in the world.

本期《Brains On》节目到此结束。本集由

That's it for this episode of Brains On. This episode was written by

尼科·冈萨雷斯·惠斯勒和桑丁·托滕撰写。

Nico Gonzalez Whistler. Sandin Totten.

还有我，莫莉·布鲁姆。编辑是谢拉·法尔赞。工程方面得到了埃里克·罗曼尼和黛博拉·里夫斯的帮助，音效设计由雷切尔·布里兹完成。事实核查由丽贝卡·兰德负责。原创主题音乐由

And me, Molly Bloom. It was edited by Shayla Farzan. We had engineering help from Eric Romani and Deborah Reeves with sound design by Rachel Breeze. And fact checking by Rebecca Rand. Original theme music by

马克·桑切斯创作。

Mark Sanchez.

制作得到了Brains on Universe团队其他成员的帮助。

We had production help from the rest of Brains on Universe team.

罗茜·杜邦。安娜·戈德菲尔德。鲁比·格思里。劳伦·亨伯特。

Rosie DuPont. Anna Goldfield. Ruby Guthrie. Lauren Humbert.

约书亚·雷。

Joshua Ray.

马克·桑切斯。夏洛特·特拉弗。

Mark Sanchez. Charlotte Traver.

安娜·魏格尔。

Anna Weigel.

还有阿隆·瓦尔德萨拉西。

And Aron Waldasalasi.

贝丝·珀尔曼是我们的执行制片人，APM工作室的负责人是钱德拉·卡瓦蒂和乔安妮·格里菲斯。特别感谢维尼修斯·克鲁塞罗、法比亚诺·马克斯和丹尼尔·多克托里。

Beth Pearlman is our executive producer, and the executives in charge of APM studios are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Vinicius Crusero, Fabiano Marks, and Daniel Doctory.

《Brains On》是一个非营利性公共广播节目。

Brains On is a nonprofit public radio program.

有很多方式可以支持我们的节目。订阅YouTube上的Brains On Universe频道，观看你最喜欢的一些剧集的动画版本，或者访问brainson.org。

There are lots of ways to support the show. Subscribe to Brains On Universe on YouTube where you can watch animated versions of some of your favorite episodes or head to brainson.org.

在那里，你可以给我们发送神秘歌曲、图画和问题。

While you're there, you can send us mystery songs, drawings, and questions.

好的。佩德罗，准备好再听一遍那个神秘声音了吗？

Okay. Pedro, are you ready to hear the mystery sound again?

是的。

Yeah.

好的。就是这个声音。你觉得是什么？

Alright. Here it is. What do you think?

现在想想，我觉得可能只是硬币掉在地上的声音。就像我玩猜正反面时不小心掉了一枚硬币那样。

Now that I think of it, I think it's probably just coins dropping on the floor. Like, if I accidentally drop a coin while playing, like, heads or tails.

我喜欢这个猜测。我知道你很喜欢玩猜正反面游戏。那是你最喜欢的活动之一，对吧？

I like it. I like it. I know you like to play heads and tails a lot. That's one of your favorite things. Right?

是的。我觉得这是个很棒的猜测。我们应该揭晓答案了吗？

Yeah. I think that's a great guess. Should we hear the answer?

是的。我叫卡比洛，来自旧金山。那是弹珠掉落地板的声音。

Yeah. My name is Cabillo and I'm from SF, That was the sound of marbles dropping on the floor.

哦，弹珠掉落地板。哦。你猜得其实挺接近的。你猜到了有东西掉在地上。没错。

Oh, marbles dropping on the floor. Oh. You were not that far off. You thought something was dropping on the floor. Yeah.

你只是以为是硬币。我觉得我们这题肯定要给自己部分加分。

You just thought it was coins. I think we're giving ourselves partial credit for that for sure.

是啊。

Yeah.

现在到了大脑荣誉榜时间。这些出色的孩子们用他们的提问、想法、神秘声音、图画和击掌让节目持续进行。来自英国七橡树的安东尼，加利福尼亚州门洛帕克的诺埃尔，密歇根州大急流城的奥利维亚，纽约州白原市的索菲，加利福尼亚州红木城的本，科罗拉多州桑顿的西比尔，马萨诸塞州沃尔瑟姆的卢娜，爱达荷州博伊西的蒂米，纽约州约克镇高地的艾登，纽约州布鲁克林的卡罗琳，罗德岛州普罗维登斯的艾达，阿尔伯塔省的赛拉斯，宾夕法尼亚州索尔兹伯里的伊莱，密歇根州罗切斯特山的奥利弗，芝加哥的菲奥娜，西温哥华的费伊，明尼阿波利斯的阿德琳，康涅狄格州福尔斯村的博，加利福尼亚州门洛帕克的妮莎和艾米，安大略省马克汉姆的索菲，加利福尼亚州福尔布鲁克的梅布尔，新泽西州布莱尔斯敦的查理，纽约市的夏洛特，新西兰奥克兰的艾丹和鲍登，威斯康星州沃瓦托萨的阿贝琳和艾米莉亚，伊利诺伊州展望高地的埃拉·玛丽，埃德蒙顿的以斯拉，英格兰纽卡斯尔的海蒂，米德尔伯勒的菲比，加利福尼亚州穆列塔的基兰和科林，圣地亚哥的穆恩，明尼阿波利斯的菲比，华盛顿州奥查德港的马库斯，匹兹堡的埃米特，密歇根州格罗斯波因特的史蒂文，加利福尼亚州阿拉米达的阿瑟，新泽西州的乔丹，不列颠哥伦比亚省三角洲的马蒂亚斯，阿拉斯加州瓦西拉的埃弗雷特、诺曼和霍兰德，俄勒冈州格拉德斯通的奥巴西，不列颠哥伦比亚省枫树岭的杰克，印第安纳州费希尔斯的安吉拉，加利福尼亚州门多西诺的诺拉和可可，法国昂蒂布的苏里安兹，缅因州巴斯的艾维和凯，多伦多的霍尔顿，温哥华的伊桑和丹尼尔，奥马哈的詹姆斯，佛罗里达州潘汉德尔的裘德，宾夕法尼亚州切尼的艾米，马里兰州塞文纳帕克的乔纳森，伊利诺伊州圣查尔斯的托马斯，旧金山的凯尔西，不列颠哥伦比亚省兰利的埃维和托里，费城的维拉，以及田纳西州孟菲斯的西尔维。

Now it's time for the brains honor roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives. Anthony from 7 Oaks, United Kingdom, Noelle from Menlo Park, California, Olivia from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sophie from White Plains, New York, Ben from Redwood City, California, Sybil from Thornton, Colorado, Luna from Waltham, Massachusetts, Timmy from Boise, Idaho, Aiden from Yorktown Heights, New York, Caroline from Brooklyn, New York, Ida from Providence, Rhode Island, Silas from Alberta, Eli from Salisburg, Pennsylvania, Oliver from Rochester Hills, Michigan, Fiona from Chicago, Faye from West Vancouver, Adeline from Minneapolis, Beau from Falls Village, Connecticut, Nessa and Emmy from Menlo Park, California, Sophie from Markham, Ontario, Mabel from Fallbrook, California, Charlie from Blairstown, New Jersey, Charlotte from New York City, Aidan and Bowden from Auckland, New Zealand, Abelene and Emilia from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, Ella Marie from Prospect Heights, Illinois, Ezra from Edmonton, Heidi from Newcastle, England, Phoebe from Middleborough, Keelan and Collin from Murrieta, California, Moon from San Diego, Phoebe from Minneapolis, Marcus from Port Orchard, Washington, Emmett from Pittsburgh, Steven from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Arthur from Alameda, California, Jordan from New Jersey, Matthias from Delta, British Columbia, Everett, Norman, and Holland from Wasilla, Alaska, Obasi from Gladstone, Oregon, Jack from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Angela from Fishers, Indiana, Nola and Coco from Mendocino, California, Surianz from Antibis, France, Ivy and Kai from Bath, Maine, Holden from Toronto, Ethan and Daniel from Vancouver, James from Omaha, Jude from Panhandle, Florida, Emmy from Cheney, Pennsylvania, Jonathan from Severna Park, Maryland, Thomas from Saint Charles, Illinois, Kelsey from San Francisco, Evie and Tori from Langley, British Columbia, Vera from Philadelphia, and Sylvie from Memphis, Tennessee.

下周我们将带来一集全部关于宇航员生活的节目。感谢收听。

We'll be back next week with an episode all about what it's like to be an astronaut. Thanks for listening.