Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did Alexander Wilson use a train of kites to study weather?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

In 1749, the Scottish scientist Alexander Wilson conducted the first recorded scientific application of a kite by utilizing a kite train to study the atmosphere.1

A kite train consists of two or more kites flown from a single, common line. By deploying this configuration, Wilson was able to reach higher altitudes than a single kite could typically achieve, allowing him to measure temperature variations at different heights above the ground. This pioneering experiment established the kite as a functional meteorological device, a role that has continued in various forms of scientific survey work to the present day.12