Analyzing HALO Data
Below you will find a short write up on working with the HALO Data. (I am not an expert in this area so some revisions may need to be made.)
The data is in HEX and needs to be converted to a decimal to before formulas can be used. Excel has a function HEX2DEC(number), but you need the "Analysis ToolPak" Add-In installed in Excel for the function to work.
Here is a list of where the data is:
DeviceId = Balloon ID
A1 - HUMIDITY
A2 - PRESSURE
A3- EXTERNAL TEMP
A4- INTERNAL TEMP
A5- BATTERY VOLTAGE
A8- C02
A16 - GEIGER COUNTER (Counts are for a 10 sec window, Multiply # by 6 for counts per minute)
A17- RATE
A18 - ALTITUDE
GPS Data
Lat = Latitude
Lon = Longitude
Spd = Speed (In Knots)
Hdg = Heading
In order to have Temperature, Pressure, Humidity, and CO2 data in the correct units you will need to look at the data sheet for the senors to find the formulas. (I have listed most of the part #'s for the sensors in a previous post "HALO II Update" or something like that.)
If anyone has any more helpful information on analyzing HALO data please post it.
The data is in HEX and needs to be converted to a decimal to before formulas can be used. Excel has a function HEX2DEC(number), but you need the "Analysis ToolPak" Add-In installed in Excel for the function to work.
Here is a list of where the data is:
DeviceId = Balloon ID
A1 - HUMIDITY
A2 - PRESSURE
A3- EXTERNAL TEMP
A4- INTERNAL TEMP
A5- BATTERY VOLTAGE
A8- C02
A16 - GEIGER COUNTER (Counts are for a 10 sec window, Multiply # by 6 for counts per minute)
A17- RATE
A18 - ALTITUDE
GPS Data
Lat = Latitude
Lon = Longitude
Spd = Speed (In Knots)
Hdg = Heading
In order to have Temperature, Pressure, Humidity, and CO2 data in the correct units you will need to look at the data sheet for the senors to find the formulas. (I have listed most of the part #'s for the sensors in a previous post "HALO II Update" or something like that.)
If anyone has any more helpful information on analyzing HALO data please post it.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam SanGregory on -
Using some equations I obtained from a balloon workshop at Taylor U. last summer, I came up with the following equations which can be used in Excel or Open Office to convert most of the data. I couldn't find the CO2 sensor data sheet post and I couldn't figure out the "Rate" one either. For the others I have: (in each case the referenced cell is the raw data)
Humidity=(HEX2DEC(E3)/1024*5-0.8)*100/3.75 (units %rel)
Pressure=(HEX2DEC(F3)/1024*5-0.5)/0.287 (units PSI)
Ext Temp=104.45*(HEX2DEC(G3)/1024*5)-273 (units degrees C)
Int. Temp=104.45*(HEX2DEC(F3)/1024*5)-273 (units degrees C)
Battery Voltage=(HEX2DEC(I3)/1024*5)*3 (units Volts... I guessed on this one, the multiplier 3 may be wrong)
Giger Counter=HEX2DEC(T3)*6 (units = counts/min)
Altitude=HEX2DEC(V3) (Units Meters)
or
Altitude=HEX2DEC(V3)*3.28084 (Units Feet)
If anyone knows the CO2 or Rate conversions, please post.
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Permalink Reply by Sam SanGregory on
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PRESSURE ERROR: I noticed a typo in my previous set of equations. The Pressure equation should be divided by 0.267 NOT the 0.287 as I reported.
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Permalink Reply by Sam SanGregory on
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After playing with the numbers I am suggesting the following for the RATE column.
RATE = (HEX2DEC(U3)-10000)*3.28084 (Units are Ft/min)
Without the 3.28084 multiplier the units would be meters/min.
When I use this equation I get numbers that appear to agree with the altitude data.
If someone could confirm this with their data I would appreciate it.
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Permalink Reply by Howard Brooks on -
The formula that you suggest is consistent with the formula that we have used with the previous generation of flight software.
Howard
Sam SanGregory said:After playing with the numbers I am suggesting the following for the RATE column.
RATE = (HEX2DEC(U3)-10000)*3.28084 (Units are Ft/min)
Without the 3.28084 multiplier the units would be meters/min.
When I use this equation I get numbers that appear to agree with the altitude data.
If someone could confirm this with their data I would appreciate it.
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Permalink Reply by Howard Brooks on
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I am wondering about the quality of the HALO II data received by the other groups. We put our only HALO II receiving radio downrange prior to launch. We ran two independent computers each connected to the radio via the supplied USB connectors.
I am aware that software issues caused some gaps in the data. This graph shows the altitude data from the two HALO II computers (in red) and the altitude data from the Scadata System software that tracked our other 900 MHz radio system.
The HALO II geiger data does not show the characteristic count versus altitude pattern that we have seen in many other flights. Both the internal and external temperatures are generally correct, but there are many data values that appear to be erroneously low (-100 Celsius degrees too cold)
Has anyone else had similar problems with their data?
Howard
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Permalink Reply by Erick Agrimson on -
To Howard:
Erick Agrimson from St. Kate's - we also have some funky data for the altitude plot- seems towards the peak altitude we also had a breakout like you show in red. We have our amatuer radio group (SARA) altitude data and theirs does fill in the "gap". We also had to plot our Geiger data into accent and decent plots to "make sense" of it. We could use some help from you to make some sense of the Geiger data.
Sam- We also concur with your calculations. Nice work on this.
Howard Brooks said:I am wondering about the quality of the HALO II data received by the other groups. We put our only HALO II receiving radio downrange prior to launch. We ran two independent computers each connected to the radio via the supplied USB connectors.
I am aware that software issues caused some gaps in the data. This graph shows the altitude data from the two HALO II computers (in red) and the altitude data from the Scadata System software that tracked our other 900 MHz radio system.
The HALO II geiger data does not show the characteristic count versus altitude pattern that we have seen in many other flights. Both the internal and external temperatures are generally correct, but there are many data values that appear to be erroneously low (-100 Celsius degrees too cold)
Has anyone else had similar problems with their data?
Howard
© 2012 Created by Jason Krueger.
