Photo credit: Government of Saskatchewan

If you are in the Prince Albert, Shellbrook and Melfort areas over the next few weeks don’t be surprised if you spot high altitude balloons carrying instrumentation.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), in partnership with LUX Aerobot, is launching a pilot project, literally and figuratively, Friday afternoon.

In a news release the SPSA said, “The project will use high-altitude balloons carrying instrumentation to assess whether continuous aerial monitoring can improve wildfire detection, response times, resource deployment decisions, and overall public safety outcomes.”

Weather permitting, up to three balloon launches are planned from the Prince Albert/Shellbrook area over the next two weeks. The balloons are expected to land in the Melfort area and will remain airborne for several hours.

The balloons will fliy twice as high as a commercial airplane but may be visible when launched and when descending.