Atmospheric Boundary Layer Measurement with Multirotor sUAS

FT Technologies’ Director of Global Accounts, Gordon Bease, has co-authored a paper entitled “Development of a sensor suite for atmospheric boundary layer measurement with a small multirotor unmanned aerial system.” The paper, written in conjunction with leading scholars from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has been published in International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace.

Click here to download the full paper

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) are increasingly being used to conduct atmospheric research. Because of the dynamic nature and inhomogeneity of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), the ability of instrumented sUAS to make on-demand 3-dimensional high-resolution spatial measurements of atmospheric parameters makes them particularly suited to ABL investigations.

Two of the most popular techniques for wind measurement include deducing readings from inertial measurement unit (IMU) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) calculations, or measuring wind using multi-hole pressure probes. These techniques suffer from inherent limitations that can cause inaccurate measurements.

The paper details the development of an instrumentation suite for the measurement of thermodynamic and kinematic atmospheric parameters, along with the ability to telemeter data, while hovering. Two FT205 acoustic resonance wind sensors were provided for this instrumentation suite by FT Technologies.

To find out more about using a multirotor UAS for atmospheric boundary layer measurement, download the full paper here.

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