LIGHTWEIGHT AUTONOMOUS DROPWINDSONDE SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT

MUCH OF THE RESEARCH ON OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS IN METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE DYNAMICS WOULD PROFIT GREATLY FROM THE AVAILABILITY OF INEXPENSIVE IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (NCAR) HAS DEVELOPED A FAMILY OF LIGHTWEIGHT DIGITAL DROPWINDSONDES, AND AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES HAS DEVELOPED A LOW-COST UNMANNED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AIRCRAFT (USRA) NAMED PERSEUS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO COMBINE THE LIGHTWEIGTH DIGITAL DROPWINDSONDE WITH THE USRA TO PRODUCE A FLEXIBLE, LOW-COST SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING IN-SITU ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS. DURING PHASE 1 WE PROPOSE TO FABRICATE A DISPENSER FOR THE NCAR LIGHTWEIGHT LORAN DIGITALDROPWINDSONDE (L2D2) AND INSTALL IT ON THE AURORA PERSEUS PROOF-OF-CONCEPT AIRCRAFT. PIGGYBACKING ON THE PERSEUS' ENGINEERING FLIGHT TESTS IN EARLY 1991, WE PROPOSE TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONCEPT OF THE USRA/DROPWINDSONDE CONCEPT BYDEPLOYING L2D2 UNITS (LEFT OVER FROM THE 1989 ERICA CAMPAIGN) FROM THE PERSEUS. THE RECEIVER AND DATA PROCESSING UNIT FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION WOULD BE GROUND BASED. DURING PHASE 2 WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A DEDICATED AIRBORNE DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR USE ABOARD THE USRA.