GPS Messages
15 minutes after the balloon was launched, the tracker sent another SMS containing the 8 digit code. I typed in this number into the special tracking software provided by Simvalley and the location of the balloon was displayed on Google Maps. The balloon was heading roughly in the North direction.
After this, no SMS was sent. There were two possible reasons for this:
However, finally at 12:20 p.m. I received an SMS from the tracker, this time with the GPS coordinates of the location. GPS coordinates are much more accurate as opposed to GSM which only gives a rough idea of position. The coordinates sent by the tracker were: 48.08297,9.09749 and after typing them into Google Maps, I discovered that the parachute had landed in a place called Thiergarten, Beuron in Germany. On the map, it could be seen that the area in which the parachute landed was a hill with many trees on it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to tell from the map whether the parachute had landed on a tree or on the ground.
After this, no SMS was sent. There were two possible reasons for this:
- The tracker had stopped functioning because of the extreme temperatures reached at high altitudes. However, this was very less likely since the tracker could sustain temperatures as low as -20° C and with such a good insulator such as polystyrene and heating provided by the body warmers, the temperatures should not have got so low.
- The tracker could have reached a certain altitude from where it wasn't possible for SMS to reach my phone. This was a more likely possibility since cell phones and SMS services cannot operate at high altitudes.
However, finally at 12:20 p.m. I received an SMS from the tracker, this time with the GPS coordinates of the location. GPS coordinates are much more accurate as opposed to GSM which only gives a rough idea of position. The coordinates sent by the tracker were: 48.08297,9.09749 and after typing them into Google Maps, I discovered that the parachute had landed in a place called Thiergarten, Beuron in Germany. On the map, it could be seen that the area in which the parachute landed was a hill with many trees on it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to tell from the map whether the parachute had landed on a tree or on the ground.
On the ride to this place, I received several other GPS coordinates from the tracker. These coordinates are recorded along with the time below:
Time12:20
12:36 12:51 13:06 13:20 13:36 13:51 14:06 14:21 15:13 15:28 15:43 15:58¨ 16:13 16:28 16:43 |
Coordinates48.08297, 9.09749
48.08258, 9.09669 48.08255, 9.09689 48.08265, 9.09678 48.08325, 9.09597 48.08296, 9.09669 48.08273, 9.09688 48.08275, 9.09695 48.08271, 9.09671 48.08260, 9.09681 48.08251, 9.09674 48.08255, 9.09679 48.08264, 9.09663 48.08262, 9.09662 48.08265, 9.09658 48.08263, 9.09664 |
All the coordinates were approximately at the same location, so I assumed that the parachute had landed. After reaching the place, the GPS navigator and the directions from Google Maps were of no use because it led you to the closest place where there was a walking route. So, if you want to navigate to somewhere in the woods where there is no walking trail, Google Maps will be unable to lead you to the correct place. We had reached the closest walking trail but the parachute had landed somewhere off trail on the slopes of the hill. It would be very difficult to search the entire area covered with tall trees having no idea as to which direction the parachute has fallen. Also, it was getting quite dark and it would be better if we'd left and come again the next day after doing a proper study.
I inserted all the coordinates above into Google Maps plus some more coordinates I requested. The map below shows the locations of these coordinates.
I inserted all the coordinates above into Google Maps plus some more coordinates I requested. The map below shows the locations of these coordinates.
The coordinates marked in blue are the coordinates that were requested much later just to make sure that the position of the tracker is unchanged. The map above shows that all the coordinates lying very close to each other. One of the coordinates - 48.08325, 9.09597 lies slightly off-track, however, the rest of the coordinates lie in an area not more than radius 15-20 meters. On Google Earth, I was also able to look at the slope of the ground at the location and it didn't seem too steep.
After a few days, we went again to area of landing. We reached the location where we were stuck last time, however, this time I knew the approximate direction to travel. After a 10-15 minute search, the parachute was seen hanging on top of a branch of a tree roughly 25 meters above the ground. It was impossible to climb the tree because the parachute was really high up and the tree contained only branches at the very top.
After a few days, we went again to area of landing. We reached the location where we were stuck last time, however, this time I knew the approximate direction to travel. After a 10-15 minute search, the parachute was seen hanging on top of a branch of a tree roughly 25 meters above the ground. It was impossible to climb the tree because the parachute was really high up and the tree contained only branches at the very top.
I contacted the local forester explaining to him the situation and he agreed to help me out. I showed him where the parachute had landed. The forester said that it was possible to take the parachute down but it couldn't be done right away as the professional tree climber wasn't available that day. He agreed to take it down and send it right away by post to our address in Switzerland.
At that time, I did not think about the possibility of taxes and import duties being imposed for sending a parcel containing electronic equipment from Germany to Switzerland. The post did not accept the parcel and it was sent back to the office in Beuron. They sent it back again, this time filling in all the necessary forms saying that all the electronic equipment was purchased in Switzerland and that it was only because of a project that the parcel needs to be sent. However, the post still did not accept the parcel and so, I personally went there to collect it from them.
At that time, I did not think about the possibility of taxes and import duties being imposed for sending a parcel containing electronic equipment from Germany to Switzerland. The post did not accept the parcel and it was sent back to the office in Beuron. They sent it back again, this time filling in all the necessary forms saying that all the electronic equipment was purchased in Switzerland and that it was only because of a project that the parcel needs to be sent. However, the post still did not accept the parcel and so, I personally went there to collect it from them.
Predicted landing and Actual landing
The CUSF Landing Predictor 2.0 predicted that the balloon would land roughly near a location with coordinates: 47.985685, 9.271988. However, the parachute actually landed in a location with the coordinates: 48.08263, 9.09664. Distancefromto.net has a very useful map that calculates the aerial distance between two points. The map below from this website shows the predicted point (on the right) and the actual point of landing (on the left)
The map shows the distance between the two points as 16.94 km or 10.52 miles. As it can be seen from the map, the actual landing site is North-West from the predicted landing site. Therefore, the predictor was incorrect it its prediction by approximately 17 km to the South-East. This might have caused not only due to slight errors caused by the estimated wind speeds used by the predictor to predict the landing zone but also due to slight errors in the information entered. These values were just filled in by me after making some calculations but these calculations do not give the exact values, they just give an approximate. Also, at that time, I was expecting to launch the balloon by 9 a.m., whereas the actual launch took place at 9:32 a.m. The wind speeds vary with time and this might have been another reason why a slight inaccuracy might have been caused by the prediction model. However, the prediction model wasn't used to provide a 100% accurate location of landing - it was just used to give some guidance as to which direction the balloon would fly, whether there were any big lakes, mountains, forests, etc. This job was done perfectly and the balloon did not land in any dense forest, a big lake or on a tall mountain. Therefore, it can definitely be said that the CUSF Landing Predictor is a great tool to rely on before launching the balloon.