A METEOROLOGICAL SAMPLING SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES THE EVALUATION OF REQUIREMENTS FOR REMOTE WEATHER SAMPLING SYSTEMS APPLIED TO A SPECIFIED UNMANNED METEOROLOCIALRECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT. DATA TO BE GATHERED INCLUDE CLOUD STATISTICS, WATER CONTENT AND PARTICLE SIZE, DENSITY AND WIND. LIQUID WATER CONTENT MEASUREMENT IS CONSIDERED BASED ON USING EXISTING INSTRUMENTS AND THE PROPOSER'S CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A NEW INSTRUMENT. DISCUSSION IS GIVEN TO MODIFYING CURRENT INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS FOR THE MOST ECONOMICAL AND EFFICIENT USE ON UNMANNED AIRCRAFT. INSTRUMENTS TO BE STUDIED INCLUDE 2D PROBES WITH REAL TIME IMAGE PROCESSING FOR DATA COMPRESSION, HUMIDITY SENSORS, INFRARED RADIOMETERS FOR SENSING CLOUD TEMPERATURES, AND WIND MEASUREMENTS USING EXISTING SOFTWARE FOR FLIGHT TRACK INFORMATION. SYSTEMS ALSO CONSIDERED INCLUDE REAL TIME DISPLAY VIDEO CAMERAS, VERSIONS OF SLOWSCAN AIRBORNE RADARS, MINIATURIZED REFRACTIVE INDEX INSTRUMENTS, AND POSSIBLE USE OF DROPSONDES. ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEMS REQUIRED FOR EACH INSTRUMENT. A DIGITAL DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM IS DESCRIBED. THE SYSTEM USES MICROPROCESSORS TO SUPPLY DIGITAL AND ANALOG INFORMATION TO A MASTER MICROPROCESSOR FORTIMING, DATA ASSEMBLY AND TRANSMISSION TO THE GROUND. NAVIGATION DATA IS HANDLED BY THE SAME SYSTEM ALONG WITH METEOROLOGICAL DATA, AND A COLOR-CODED FLIGHT TRACK IS GENERATED AT THE GROUND STATION.