We are proud to highlight the Master’s thesis of Andrea Caporali, completed in 2021 within the Master’s Program in Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, under the supervision of Prof. Daniela Tordella. His work, titled “Development of Biodegradable Mini-Radioprobe to Measure Fluctuations within Warm Clouds,” was conducted as part of the Horizon 2020 MSCA Innovative Training Network COMPLETE project (Cloud-MicroPhysics-Turbulence-Telemetry).

Despite significant technological advances in atmospheric observation—through satellites, high-altitude probes, and ground stations—many of the microscale physical and chemical processes that govern cloud behavior remain poorly understood. Warm clouds, in particular, present a highly complex environment where multiscale interactions play a critical role in shaping weather systems and climate dynamics.

Andrea’s research focused on designing one of the project’s central innovations: biodegradable air balloons for use in Lagrangian mini radiosondes. These lightweight, eco-friendly probes are intended to drift naturally within clouds, capturing high-resolution data on temperature, humidity, pressure, and turbulence while minimizing environmental impact.

His work involved an iterative process of balloon design and testing, optimizing parameters such as shape, weight, and buoyancy to ensure accurate tracking of turbulent fluctuations within clouds. The objective was to enable the radiosonde to follow fluid motion as closely as possible, allowing researchers to study cloud microphysics from a Lagrangian perspective.

This thesis represents a crucial contribution to experimental atmospheric science and to the broader goal of enhancing our understanding of cloud dynamics and their role in the Earth system.

For more details on the COMPLETE H2020 project, visit: tesi.pdf