Topographic and Landcover Influence on Lower Atmospheric Profiles Measured by Small Unoccupied Aerial Systems (sUAS)

Abstract

Small unoccupied aerial systems (sUASs) are increasingly being used for field data collection and remote sensing purposes. Their ease of use, ability to carry sensors, low cost, and precise maneuverability and navigation make them a versatile tool for a field researcher. Procedures and instrumentation for sUASs are largely undefined, especially for atmospheric and hydrologic applications. The sUAS’s ability to collect atmospheric data for characterizing land–atmosphere interactions was examined at three distinct locations: Costa Rican rainforest, mountainous terrain in Georgia, USA, and land surfaces surrounding a lake in Florida, USA. This study aims to give further insight on rapid, sub-hourly changes in the planetary boundary layer and how land development alters land–atmosphere interactions. The methodology of using an sUAS for land–atmospheric remote sensing and data collection was developed and refined by considering sUAS wind downdraft influence and executing systematic flight patterns throughout the day. The sUAS was successful in gathering temperature and dew point data, including rapid variations due to changing weather conditions, at high spatial and temporal resolution over various land types, including water, forest, mountainous terrain, agriculture, and impermeable human-made surfaces. The procedure produced reliably consistent vertical profiles over small domains in space and time, validating the general approach. These findings suggest a healthy ability to diagnose land surface atmospheric interactions that influence the dynamic nature of the near-surface boundary layer.

Drone-Based Vertical Atmospheric Temperature Profiling in Urban Environments

“…Nonetheless, aircraft usually fly on predefined routes, especially during the initial climb and approach phases, which limits the spatial data availability to a narrow strip aligned with the runway, especially close to the ground. Several studies [4,7,11,[13][14][15][16][17][18] advocate for the adoption of UASs for in situ atmospheric probing, highlighting their cost-effectiveness, mobility, and reusability.…”

“…Prior et al [17] used a Kestrel DROP D3FW Fire Weather Monitor (temperature accuracy: 0.5 • C, temperature resolution: 0.1 • C, humidity accuracy: 2%, humidity resolution: 0.1%, wet-bulb globe temperature response time: 160 s) attached via a 7.6 m long fishing line to the landing gear of Autel Robotics X-Star Premium and DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 quadcopters, both similar in dimensions (~350 mm diagonal) and flight endurance (~25 min). During each flight, the altitude was limited to 122 m AGL to comply with the regulations.…”

“…To summarize, the temperature measurement methods include continuous ascent and descent [1,4,11,17,18,23], which enables averaging between the ascent and descent and decreases the inertial errors. This seems to be the dominant method in temperature profile collection.…”