Knowledge of stratospheric turbulence is still limited, but important for the atmospheric energy balance and the mixing of trace species. A new balloon-borne instrument which measures turbulent fluctuations in wind and temperature with unprecedented vertical resolution has recently been developed at the Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics.
In this thesis, the instrument and therewith the data quality have been improved significantly. New flights have been performed. Features of observed dissipation rates are explained by atmospheric background conditions. Dissipation rates are compared to Thorpe analyses of radiosondes. The assumption needed for such an evaluation is checked and found not to be fulfilled. Kinetic dissipation rates computed from simultaneous wind and temperature measurements are inconsistent and reveal potential problems with the turbulence theory used for the evaluation.