1. Using UAS to Study the Atmosphere
Cory Wolff
National Center for Atmospheric Research
24 July 2017

2. Why UAS?
Atmospheric scientists have history of measuring the atmosphere with manned aircraft.
Long duration
Range of altitudes
Large payloads
Complex datasets
3 Ds
Dull - very long missions
Dirty - chemical/smoke plumes
Dangerous - hurricanes & severe storms
Low altitude, high resolution measurements
More capability than towers and sondes
Ease of operation
More cost effective
Sometimes

3. Current Measurements Survey commissioned in 2016 Target audience
NSF funded UAS researchers
University geoscience researchers (all)
UAS users
UAS non-users
Other
Aerial photos
Electric fields
Polar and maritime surveys
Topography
Multispectral imagery
Thermal infrared (IR)
Surface temperature
33 Respondents

4. Desired Measurements
33 Respondents

5. Observations and Platforms
Using and interpreting UAS observations
Easier: temperature, pressure, moisture
Harder: winds, turbulence, fluxes
UAS itself can influence measurements
Larger datasets
72% are validating UAS measurements
62% are characterizing uncertainty
Platform considerations
Endurance
FAA regulations
Ease of use
Ability to operate in storms

6. NASA Global Hawk Hurricane, tropical storm, high altitude missions
65,000 ft.
Very long duration
24+ hrs
8500+ n mi
Multiple shifts
Variety of instruments

7. NOAA Coyote
Canister launched from P3 in tropical storms and hurricanes
Up to 70 n mi communication range
55 kts
1+ hr endurance
Sends back wind, temperature, pressure information
Areas unsafe for manned aircraft
Unrecoverable
Telemetry is critical
Launch

8. NOAA Coyote Hurricane Edouard - 2014 Eyewall penetration 2940 ft
100 kt winds in eyewall

9. University of Oklahoma
NRC Report (2009): Assets required to profile the lower troposphere above the near-surface layer (first 10%) are too limited in what they measure, too sparsely or unevenly distributed, sometimes too coarse in vertical resolution, sometimes limited to regional areal coverage, and clearly do not qualify as a mesoscale network of national dimensions.

10. University of Oklahoma
Flight coordination
Flocking, swarming
Data driven navigation and path planning
Sensor development and validation (w/ OSU)
Much room for improvement
Continuous operations

11. Other Research NOAA Oklahoma State University Severe Weather
Arctic studies
Surveys - not necessarily atmospheric but has capability
Oklahoma State University
Instrumentation and Engineering
Severe Weather
University of Colorado
Colorado State University
University of Nebraska
Texas Tech
University of Alaska - Fairbanks
Surveys - sea ice, fires
University of North Dakota
Radar deconfliction; NAS integration
Department of Energy

12. Challenges BLOS Altitude restrictions Urban environment
Cloud research
Operator safety around severe storms
Telemetry - data and control
Altitude restrictions
Urban environment
Chemistry measurements
Large systems
Better instrumentation
Instrument placement
Many others

13. Thank You! Where does EOL fit in?
Acknowledgements (photos and research summaries)
NASA
NOAA
University of Oklahoma