Design of a Low-Cost UAS for High-Resolution Atmospheric Sensing

The overall design considerations of an atmospheric sampling unmanned aerial system (UAS) are described, noting the importance of vehicle characteristics and operational easeof-use in maintaining a low cost system. High resolution sensing is enabled by low flight speed and high-bandwidth sensing. A new wind-finding algorithm, in particular, is described in detail in this paper, that only requires GPS and pitot-static sensing. This algorithm on the DataHawk vehicle is capable of providing 4m vertical resolution wind sensing in a “virtual tower” sampling strategy based on helical vector field guidance laws. Error bounds are derived and used to qualify the accuracy of the wind solutions. Use of this algorithm is illustrated with flight data taken from a recent field campaign at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.