Seminar on “Unmanned aerial vehicles and the prospects for their use in the atmosphere research studies” was held on July 4 at the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of RAS. Junior research assistant of the laboratory of the Institute of Optics and Aerosol Microphysics Peter Glyadkov made the keynote speech at the seminar. Advantages and disadvantages of unmanned aerial vehicles, problems of their use in meteorology and plans for the future were also discussed during the seminar. The seminar was attended by members of laboratories and departments of the IAP RAS, representatives of other academic institutions, as well as the specialist in hydrometeorology of the Department of Software Solutions of ScanEx RDC Katerina Melnik.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly used in various fields of science and industry. They are used for atmospheric research too. It is, first of all, about the drones of aircraft and helicopter (called multicopter) type. Most often a multicopter has four (quadrocopter) or six (geksakoptery) rotating blades. The design of such devices allows them to rise up to 2-4 km, which provides two vertical profiles of meteorological parameters – during ascent and during descent. Number of measured meteorological parameters depend on the number of sensors installed, which, in turn, is limited to the capacity of a UAV (typically a few kilograms).
The most commonly measured meteorological parameters include temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. GPS and barometer are used to determine the coordinates. Among the most promising measurements are: the concentration of trace gases, air sampling, measurement component of the radiation balance, pollen and other particles filters, and more.
– Already today the meteorological UAVs can be used for remote sensing data validation. Why is it so important? The fact is that remote sensing data gradually become more involved, such as in the process of predicting the weather. Moreover, they are used by the forecaster, and as the input data in the model. Like any weather data, they should be tested. For example, vertical profiles of temperature and humidity acquired from ATOVS sounder, installed onboard NOAA and MetOp series satellites, was compared with those of upper-air sounding. From this point of view, the UAV is a versatile and very mobile device, it may be useful to obtain data on the atmospheric condition within the “gaps” between upper-air stations, including those in remote areas – said Katerina Melnik.
The development of sensing technologies applying meteorological UAVs will not only get a significant amount of quality data for atmospheric research, but also will allow validation of remote sensing data on a new level.
