Transcript Document 7171730

Potential Roles for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in
62nd
Hurricane
Conference
Charleston
March 3, 2008
Alexander E.
MacDonald
NOAA
Earth System
Research
Laboratory
Hurricane Research and Prediction
Two Keys to Hurricane Intensity:
(1) Numerical model with resolution high
enough to resolve the eyewall ( 1 km)
(2) Ability to continuously, quantitativly
monitor the storm intensity
- 1 to 3 hour temporal resolution
- Continuously for the 3 day period
before landfall.
There are a great variety of UAS.
Altair Predator B
Aerosonde
Global Hawk
Global Observer
Zephyr
AEM in situ
NOAA UAS Program Funded!
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Program will apply to all NOAA missions
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This presentation: Tropical Storms
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Program Manager: Marty Ralph
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Budget: $ 3.3 M in 2008, $ 6.3 M in 2009
Examples of Hurricane Missions for UAS:
1. Global Hawk to loiter above the hurricane.
2. Aerosonde into the hurricane at low levels.
3. Zephyr over hurricanes for days at a time.
NOAA is working with
NASA with the goal of
using the Global Hawk
as a platform for
hurricane recon.
Global Hawk could
loiter above hurricanes
for extended periods,
and:
• Dropsondes
• Radar sampling
• Scatterometry
• Radiometry
NOAA Demonstration of the Global Hawk High-Altitude
Long-Endurance (HALE) UAS
NASA Global Hawk UAS
Dryden Flight Research Ctr.
Global Hawk UAS
Two Global Hawk UASs have been acquired by NASA Dryden
Flight Research Center, CA, and will be used, in part, for
earth science research and application studies
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Fully autonomous
Communication: UHF Line of Sight, INMARSAT Beyond Line of Sight
25600 GTOW, 9100lb Empty Wgt, 14500 Max Fuel
Wingspan 116 ft
210 - 335 KTAS
1500 - 2000 lb Payload
Performance: Alt 65,000 ft, Range 11,000 nm, Endurance 31 hrs
Bay A
H
G
F
Bay J
E
D
Bay B
I
Bay C
Examples of Hurricane Missions for UAS:
1. Global Hawk to loiter above the hurricane.
2. Aerosonde into the hurricane at low
levels.
3. Zephyr over hurricanes for days at a time.
NOAA/NASA Noel Aerosonde UAS mission
Aerosonde was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at
14:08 EST on Friday November 2, 2007.
Mission endurance was 17 hours 27 minutes and resulted in
7.5 hours of data collection in the core of the hurricane at altitudes less than 100m.
Take-off from Wallops Flight
Facility (KWAL) 1600 UTC
Nominal altitude for the Aerosonde
prior to entering the storm’s core
circulation was between 300-600m.
Near the center, UAS altitude was ~150m.
Aerosonde
P-3 (3500 m)
KMCF
“Eye” loitering with
vertical soundings
(90-1500 m)
Rendezvous with P-3 at
storm center 0525 UTC
190100
200048
203533
211009
222016
225459
234712
617
10031
12859
14716
21429
25217
33537
34901
40649
42200
43732
45348
53343
54012
55408
60128
60450
61020
62154
62734
64111
65644
70824
71826
72404
73759
75944
82154
90332
92510
95116
100748
101904
103044
104249
105510
110349
111907
113513
wind speed (m/s)
wind speed
40
1600
35
1400
30
1200
25
1000
20
800
15
600
10
400
5
200
0
0
time (UTC) on 2 November and 3 November, 2007
altitude (m)
Noel wind speed and altitude timeseries
altitude
190100
200048
203533
211009
222016
225459
234712
617
10031
12859
14716
21429
25217
33537
34901
40649
42200
43732
45348
53343
54012
55408
60128
60450
61020
62154
62734
64111
65644
70824
71826
72404
73759
75944
82154
90332
92510
95116
100748
101904
103044
104249
105510
110349
111907
113513
altitude (m)
altitude
1800
1200
1000
320
800
600
310
400
300
200
0
290
time (UTC) on 2 November and 3 November, 2007
theta-e (K)
Noel Equivalent Potential Temperature and Altitude Timeseries
Theta-E [K]
350
1600
340
1400
330
Noel - all theta-e soundings
1st up
1st down
2nd up
2nd down
3rd up
3rd down
1600
1400
1200
height (m)
1000
800
600
38
37.5
400
37
36.5
36
200
35.5
35
34.5
0
336
337
338
339
340
341
theta-e (K)
342
343
-76
-75
344
-74
-73
345
-72
34
346
33.5
-71
-70
Noel - P3 eye drop AND aerosonde sounding
altitude (m)
0
1
2
P3 dwpt
3
aero temp
wind speed (m/s)
4
5
P3 winds
6
aero winds
7
8
9
2000
2000
1800
1800
1600
1600
1400
1400
1200
1200
1000
1000
800
800
600
600
400
400
200
200
0
0
12
14
16
18
temperature (C)
20
22
24
altitude (m)
P3 temp
Examples of Hurricane Missions for UAS:
1. Global Hawk to loiter above the hurricane.
2. Aerosonde into the hurricane at low levels.
3. Zephyr over hurricanes for days at a
time.
ZEPHYR -
Long Duration (Many days) UAS
• Built by QinetiQ Corporation (UK)
• Problem: Payload only 4 kg !!!!!!!
Zephyr HALE UAS
• Long endurance from solar-electric power
– Weeks/months flight endurance
– Operating altitude 50,000 - 65,000ft
– No environmental impact
• Drop micro-sondes into hurricanes or monitor
oceanic weather events for long periods
• Satcom capable – commercial Iridium
• Low cost platform for payloads, plus:
– No regular maintenance
– No operating base needed
– Launch and recover from ship’s deck
– Fewer personnel required
– No fuel distribution network needed
• Zephyr flies for longer for less money
– ~$1m production platform cost
Ultra-light Dropsonde
* ESRL/GSD issued RFP for dropsonde in
2006
* Spec: Closest to 20 gram sonde wins
* Winner: Applied Research Associates
Dropsonde Mechanical Design
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Foam housing
3.5 inch diameter
2.3 grams
Air pathways for sensors
• Populated housing
with attached
streamer
• 38.3 grams
Dropsonde Electronics
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Packaging – Open cell foam w/ streamer
Microprocessor – NXP LPC2138
Transmitter – TI CC1100, 300MHz – 1GHz
Pressure – Intersema MS5534B
Humidity – Sensiron SHT75
Temperature – Platinum RTD
GPS – Ublox LEA-5S
Power – ER14250, Li 1/2AA 3.6VDC
Dropsonde Electronics Specs
Mass
(g)
Voltage
(V)
Current
(mA)
Packaging – housing &
streamer
6.7
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Circuit board,
microprocessor, transmitter
12.2
3.0 - 3.6
0.015 – 28.9
Pressure Sensor
0.1
3–6
0.1 – 1.0
Humidity Sensor
0.1
2.4 – 5.5
0.0 – 0.5
Temperature Sensor
0.1
3.3
<1.0
GPS
2.1
2.7 – 3.3
39
Antennas
7
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Battery
10
3.6
1200 mAh
Component
Total
38.3g
17 – 27 hrs
Production System Concepts
• Streamer-based dropsonde dispenser
Zephyr – in-situ measurement using drop-sondes
Lightweight drop-sondes
dispensed into
developing weather
event or storm at
intervals to measure PTU
and wind speed
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