How Can I Design a Stratospheric Airship for Monitoring Weather and Pollution?

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The discussion focuses on a student's aerospace engineering project to design a stratospheric airship for monitoring weather and pollution at an altitude of 18 km. Key requirements include estimating vehicle mass, selecting a propulsion system, and detailing the airship's design and operational considerations. Initial advice suggests researching air density and temperature at high altitudes to determine the necessary volume of lifting gas. The student is encouraged to explore existing high-altitude balloon designs for insights. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the need for foundational knowledge in aerodynamics and propulsion systems to successfully complete the project.
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Hi guys,

Its been awhile since my last post. Well, things have changed since i last visited this forum =) Not sure where do i exactly post this enquiry about my schoolwork but i'll just try my luck here.

Yup, I'm taking aerospace engineering, year 1. Its been two weeks into school and I've been slapped with a project to be completed within the next two weeks which will contribute to my final grades. I was to come up with a design for a stratospheric airship with the respective details as follows:

"Develop a concept for a high-altitude, long-endurance airship to monitor the
weather and pollution emissions over SEA. The airship is targeted to operate at the
18 km altitude mark and is required to operate continuously for months at a time. You are to
detail your concept in a report of about 15-20 pages in length. In your report, you should
address/include the following (not necessarily in the following order)"
a) Introduction
b) Identification of the payload and estimation of the vehicle mass. Include a mass
breakdown for the airship.
c) Considerations for the operating environment
d) Discussion and selection of the conceptual design (include hand-drawn sketches of the
proposed configuration with approximate layout of the payload, balloon(s), control,
power and propulsion systems).
e) From the vehicle mass estimate, propose how you will generate the lift required and
estimate the volume of the vehicle.
f) Proposed power and propulsion system.
g) Method for attitude control and manoeuvring (include estimates of drag, thrust and the
expected vehicle velocity during such manoeuvres).
h) Any other considerations and discussions.

I am not looking for answers here, merely some guidelines as to how do i go about doing this. After all, i know next to nothing about this matter. Two weeks of lessons didnt provide me with substantial knowledge at all, so please, i implore upon u to give me some ideas on even how to start on this project.

I have done some research on stratospheric vehicles, and it has begin to shed some light on the issue thanks to the internet. But more detailed technical knowledge are still needed. like estimating the mass, how should the propulsion system work etc etc.

Thank you guys!

regards
 
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The first step would be to find the density and temperature of the air at 18km
That will allow you work out how much volume of lifting gas you need for the payload.
 
Start with high altitude balloons, and see where that leads.
 
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