Abstract
This paper describes the components and usage of an unmanned aerial vehicle developed for measuring turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer. A method of computing the time-dependent wind speed from a moving velocity sensor data is provided. The physical system built to implement this method using a five-hole probe velocity sensor is described along with the approach used to combine data from the different on-board sensors to allow for extraction of the wind speed as a function of time and position. The approach is demonstrated using data from three flights of two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) measuring the lower atmospheric boundary layer during transition from a stable to convective state. Several quantities are presented and show the potential for extracting a range of atmospheric boundary layer statistics.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 195 |
Journal | Atmosphere |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 4 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017 by the authors.
Funding
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through grant #CBET-1351411 and by the National Science Foundation Award No.1539070, Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (CLOUDMAP). The authors would like to thank Ryan Nolin, Caleb Canter, Jonathan Hamilton, Elizabeth Pillar-Little, and William Sanders who worked tirelessly to build, maintain, and fly the unmanned vehicles used in this study, as well as Cornelia Schlagenhauf and Lorli Smith, who developed, calibrated and manufactured the probes that were used.
Funders | Funder number |
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Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics | |
National Science Foundation (NSF) | 1539070, #CBET-1351411, 1351411 |
Keywords
- Atmospheric boundary layer
- Turbulence
- Unmanned aerial systems
- Unmanned aerial vehicles
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)