Stratospheric HAPS for enhancing societal resilience to extreme weather

Remote areas, particularly over the oceans, represent regions with the least observation coverage and contribute significantly to reducing the potential accuracy of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. In addition to space-based observations, dropsondes are possibly the only viable meteorological sensors for use over remote areas, where there is no cost-effective approach to permit regular release of radiosondes. Technology improvements have enabled the miniaturization in the size and weight of dropsondes, thereby allowing new approaches for dropsonde stowage and deployment. Solar-powered stratospheric high altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a new class of unmanned aircraft capable of flying continuously in the stratosphere for several months between landings. The integration of these miniaturized dropsonde to HAPS UAVs opens a level of weather data gathering not possible today. The goal of the Phase I project is to validate that the HAPS-Dropsonde system specification (i.e. sensor capability, reliability in operational environment) meets that of existing dropsondes, identify additional sensor technologies to enhance observation data value, and develop the mission planning system for the “Stratosonde” platform through analysis of mission scenarios with end users and subject matter experts.