Sensor Suite Development for a Weather UAV

Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop an effective system that aids meteorologists in better understanding and predicting severe weather. For the last decade, the average prediction time for tornado genesis has remained at 15 minutes. Unpredictability of tornado supercells creates over prediction cases which causes havoc in communities and can produce unnecessary injuries. There have been significant improvements in analytical models and instrumentation that provide researchers with sufficient methods of decreasing the current prediction times. However, the current warning time and unpredictability of supercell thunderstorms remains the same. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) provide an effective and safe platform for advanced weather surveillance and atmospheric data collection. In order to correctly collect the atmospheric data, it is important to ensure that the system is equipped with an effective sensor package for the weather conditions. It is also important to consider the points of interest in the storm system and to understand the ingredients for tornado genesis in order for the data to be meaningful. There are many viable options to consider and this paper will delve into the development of the optimal sensor suite for a storm surveying unmanned air vehicle (UAV).

Towards Fully Autonomous UAVs: A Survey

“…UAVs can also provide advanced warning and damage assessment for thunderstorms and tornadoes. There are few works in this area such as [ 252 , 253 , 254 , 255 ].…”