Meisei received the first order of 1,000 radiosondes. Three types of sondes were manufactured to measure cloud, wind, and type-3 temperature & humidity.
Meisei developed "CMO-S48B code sending type radiosonde" adopting the then innovative digital method. This product was delivered to the Central Meteorological Observatory and contributed to the establishment of reputation as "Meisei renowned with sonde".
Meisei developed RDF (D-49E) and automated tracking record type RDF (D-55) in 1950 and in 1957, respectively.
D-49 was manually tracking a radiosonde by the operator, but D-55 can be observed with the automatic tracking.
At that time, Meisei's radio direction finding method was regarded as excellent and most up-to date technology, hence it had been also applied to the other fields of weather observation.
Meisei developed a rocketsonde that observed the mesosphere thermosphere (altitude of 60 km above ground level). These rocketsondes were launched from the meteorological rocket observation center in Ayasato, Sanriku-cho (present Ofunato-shi), Iwate Prefecture.
A total of 1,119 sondes were launched by March 2001, when the rocket observations were ended.
Meisei's instruments played an important role in the observation of Aurora Polaris by rocket or balloon in the Antarctica from 1969 throu 1985 (16 years in total), when the rocket experiments were officially completed, and Meisei were involving in all of Aurora Polaris' observations.
Meisei has been developing ozonde sonde since 1960s.
Operation of the KC-79 started from 1979, which contributed to the first discovery of the ozone hole in Antarctica in the 1980s.
KC type ozonesonde production ended in 2008, now Meisei produces the ECC type ozonesonde.
Meisei has been actively engaging in development of special sonde for a long time, and are continuing to promote such innovative
sonde technologies for upper air sounding.
HYVIS (HYdrometor VIdeoSonde) is firstly developed in collaboration with Meteorological Research Institute of Japan.
The unique HYVIS captures cloud particle images by using two cameras (microscope and close-up) and transmits these data from upper air to the surface receiver. With continuous improvement efforts, Meisei has been supplying HYVIS to universities and research institutes.
Initially in 1980s, it was used in the study of cloud microphysics, but recently, is widely used for intercomparison with cloud resolving numerical simulation, multi-parameter Doppler radar, and so on.
RS2-91 rawinsonde with a radio-direction wind-finding system were used at the all stations of
Japan Meteorological Agency from October 1992.
Thermistor coated with vacuum-evaporated aluminum and capacitive sensor were adapted
for temperature and humidity measurements,
respectively, which was innovative and very high performance sonde at that time.
Meisei's ARS is a radiosonde system that can automatically launch maximum of 16 radiosondes. By automating a series of processes (pre-launch inspection, gas filling into balloon, and other preliminary operations, receiving radio wave from sonde/GPS satellites, and analyzing/processing of observed data), ARS provides with highly efficient and stable observation.
RD-08AC function has been redefined and reevaluated for university and research institutes use, which resulted in cost reduction and higher portability.
Compact RD-08AC (A4 size, 2kg weight receiver) realizes sounding operation at anytime and anywhere!