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Title: The Pilatus unmanned aircraft system for lower atmospheric research

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [4];  [2];  [5];  [6]
  1. University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  3. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA (United States)
  5. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  6. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
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This study presents details of the University of Colorado (CU) “Pilatus” unmanned research aircraft, assembled to provide measurements of aerosols, radiation and thermodynamics in the lower troposphere. This aircraft has a wingspan of 3.2 m and a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg, and it is powered by an electric motor to reduce engine exhaust and concerns about carburetor icing. It carries instrumentation to make measurements of broadband up- and downwelling shortwave and longwave radiation, aerosol particle size distribution, atmospheric temperature, relative humidity and pressure and to collect video of flights for subsequent analysis of atmospheric conditions during flight. In order to make the shortwave radiation measurements, care was taken to carefully position a high-quality compact inertial measurement unit (IMU) and characterize the attitude of the aircraft and its orientation to the upward-looking radiation sensor. Using measurements from both of these sensors, a correction is applied to the raw radiometer measurements to correct for aircraft attitude and sensor tilt relative to the sun. The data acquisition system was designed from scratch based on a set of key driving requirements to accommodate the variety of sensors deployed. Initial test flights completed in Colorado provide promising results with measurements from the radiation sensors agreeing with those from a nearby surface site. Additionally, estimates of surface albedo from onboard sensors were consistent with local surface conditions, including melting snow and bright runway surface. Aerosol size distributions collected are internally consistent and have previously been shown to agree well with larger, surface-based instrumentation. Finally the atmospheric state measurements evolve as expected, with the near-surface atmosphere warming over time as the day goes on, and the atmospheric relative humidity decreasing with increased temperature. No directional bias on measured temperature, as might be expected due to uneven heating of the sensor housing over the course of a racetrack pattern, was detected. The results from these flights indicate that the CU Pilatus platform is capable of performing research-grade lower tropospheric measurement missions.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0013306; SC0011459; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1673156
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1253833
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-113315
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Online), Vol. 9, Issue 4; ISSN 1867-8548
Publisher:
European Geosciences UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (12)

A Review of High Impact Weather for Aviation Meteorology journal May 2019
A practical set of miniaturized instruments for vertical profiling of aerosol physical properties journal March 2017
High-Resolution Observations of Transport and Exchange Processes in Mountainous Terrain journal November 2018
Atmospheric Sampling on Ascension Island Using Multirotor UAVs journal May 2017
Environmental and Sensor Integration Influences on Temperature Measurements by Rotary-Wing Unmanned Aircraft Systems journal March 2019
The Multi-Purpose Airborne Sensor Carrier MASC-3 for Wind and Turbulence Measurements in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer journal May 2019
Simultaneous multicopter-based air sampling and sensing of meteorological variables journal January 2017
Considerations for temperature sensor placement on rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems journal January 2018
Simultaneous multicopter-based air sampling and sensing of meteorological variables journal March 2017
High-Resolution Observations of Transport and Exchange Processes in Mountainous Terrain text January 2018
Simultaneous multicopter-based air sampling and sensing of meteorological variables text January 2017
Are estimates of wind characteristics based on measurements with Pitot tubes and GNSS receivers mounted on consumer-grade unmanned aerial vehicles applicable in meteorological studies? journal August 2017

Figures / Tables (13)

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