Poster Presentation

Sampling and Sequencing the Microbiology of the Stratosphere using Weather Balloons

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Abstract

     The measured 16s values were examined inrelation to known values in public databases to identify collected microbes. Electronmicroscopy revealed the morphology of sampled microbiota. High altitude microbial populations can containorganisms with useful characteristics, such as tolerance to harsh conditions,which may have applications in the medical field. The analysis ofthis data supports previous studies showing the tenacity and limits of microorganismsunder extreme conditions.

    The commands for the fully automated asepticsampling system were executed by an Arduino microcontroller. Solenoid pinchvalves from Neptune Research controlled exposure to air from predeterminedaltitude ranges. One bonus of these pinch valves was that under a power failurethe valves automatically close, leaving sampled material unaltered. Miniature vacuumpumps provided suction needed to draw in air at low pressures and 0.2 um filterstrapped sampled material. Sterilized Tygon tubing was used that remainedflexible at the low temperatures encountered during the mission. Altitude,latitude, and longitude were measured before, during, and after sampling. Precisiontracking of the payload during the mission enabled real time tracking and washelpful for recovery and post-flight data analysis.

    While high altitude aerobiology studies began almost a century ago,there are still important questions to be addressed in the field. Volcanos,wildfires, and other events can disperse microbiota into the atmosphere. Exactlywhich populations survive, either in a spore or in an active state, is not wellunderstood. At a basic level, understanding which microbes are in this regionof the atmosphere is an important discovery. This study brings multiple fieldstogether to answer fundamental questions about our dynamic atmosphere and theonly planet we call home.

Keywords: stratospheric, ballooning, microorganisms, microbial, extreme, environment

How to Cite:

Van Gerpen, A., Leprich, D., Flaten, J., Polfliet, M. & Schroedl, P., (2019) “Sampling and Sequencing the Microbiology of the Stratosphere using Weather Balloons”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2019(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.241