Wednesday, July 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Data from balloon
launch under analysis
City’s Comp Plan nears finish line
High-altitude balloons
lofted into night sky above
Sisters Eagle Airport last
month as the airport once
again hosted the science
team from the University
of Washington9s Space and
Earth Science department
led by Associate Professor
Michael McCarthy.
For the June 2021 launch
program, three balloons
were sent aloft at night dur-
ing the week of June 20. The
first launch took place at 11
p.m. on June 22, followed
by a launch on June 24-25
between 10 p.m. and 11:30
p.m.
Launch operations
were performed by ISTAR
(International Science
Technology And Research
of Sisters). The ISTAR team
launch effort was orches-
trated by Steven Peterzén ,
President of ISTAR, Francie
Peterzén, Rima Givot, Teri
Ast, Rod Moorehead, Chris
McDougall, and Rod Gunson,
all of Sisters, along with Kyle
Peterzén of Albany.
All three balloons climbed
out easterly turning to the
west before reaching a float
altitude of 39 km (127,953
feet). The balloons performed
perfectly and stayed at the
desired altitude for more
than four days, with the ter-
mination of the flight along
the coast of Unalaska Island
in the Aleutian Islands of
Alaska, where recovery oper-
ations took place. Data analy-
sis is now being examined.
Todd Anderson, researcher
with the University of
Washington Space and Earth
Sciences explained, <The sci-
ence experiment is measuring
the electrical properties of the
atmosphere or the electrical
current flowing between the
upper atmosphere and the
earth. Measuring the current
is best done far from pollut-
ants and weather effects that
are near the Earth9s surface
so we make use of high alti-
tude balloons. By measuring
the electric current at high
altitudes and simultane-
ously monitoring thunder-
storm activity with a global
lightning network, we can
get this measurement with
higher accuracy than previ-
ous work.=
T h e y e a r- l o n g p r o -
cess of crafting an updated
Comprehensive Plan for the
City is in the home stretch,
according to Community
Development Director Scott
Woodford.
Over the next month, City
staff will take the final draft
prepared by the consultants
hired to conduct the update
process, and will create the
narratives, adding photos
and resources that will put
the goals and policies into a
cohesive document.
Woodford indicated he has
been pleased with the pro-
cess, which included consid-
erable outreach to the com-
munity, even without being
able to have large in-person
meetings. They were able
to conduct smaller meetings
with a variety of commu-
nity groups, two online open
houses, two online surveys,
and tabling events around the
city to gather input from the
public.
The two advisory com-
mittees, Community and
Stakeholders, represented a
broad cross-section of Sisters
residents and City partners.
PHOTO BY TERI AST
Inflation of the 9,000 m3
Stratospheric Balloon.
The next campaign for
ISTAR will be a series of bal-
loon launches on a DARPA
(Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency) contract
from Maui, Hawaii.
PHOTO BY ROD MOOREHEAD
Science payload being teated pre-
launch.
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
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to hear something new by
the time we were through
with the process. But until
the Council gives its final
approval, the plan is still con-
sidered in process and com-
ments from the public are
accepted,= Woodford offered.
The two major concerns
that surfaced out of all the
comments received dealt in
some way with the pace of
growth in Sisters and 4 if
Sisters must grow 4 how
it can be done successfully
while finding ways to balance
the options of infill within
the current Urban Growth
Boundary (UGB) and possi-
ble outward expansion of the
UGB into underutilized farm
and forest lands, all without
destroying the unique charac-
ter of Sisters.
The Comprehensive
Plan process is one required
of every sized city, town,
and village in the state of
Oregon. Because Sisters has
less than 10,000 residents,
the Comprehensive Plan is
not required to be updated as
often as in larger cities.
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PHOTO BY TERI AST
These two groups have done
a majority of the hard work
in reviewing current poli-
cies and making suggested
additions and deletions. Each
committee met a total of
seven times via Zoom.
When the staff is finished
with the narratives, the docu-
ment will be presented for
review at hearings before
the Planning Commission on
August 12 and 26 and to the
City Council on September 8
and 22. Additional hearings
may be scheduled, if needed.
The public is invited to those
hearings and may testify.
Once the Comprehensive
Plan is approved by the
Council, it will be sent on
to the Oregon Department
of Land Conservation and
Development for prelimi-
nary review and eventual
acknowledgement. Woodson
said that if someone wasn9t
able to directly participate
in the process, it is likely
there was someone else with
similar thoughts who did
participate.
<It became challenging
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