Approved For Public Release Distribution Unlimited UAS Data

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited UAS Data Collection for High-resolution MET Modeling Ingest Mr. Terry Jameson Battlefield Environment Division Army Research Laboratory, WSMR COMM 575 -678 -3924 terry. c. jameson. civ@mail. mil 1 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Weather Prediction Models Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Models • Predictions of basic Met parameters (winds, temperature, pressure, humidity) • Predictions of derived parameters (turbulence, visibility, cloud layers, etc. ) • Predictions at 3 -D grid points ( ~ 30 mi. down to ~ 8 mi. horizontal spacing) • Predictions out several hours - up to many days • Research-grade models (one-hour predictions – 0. 6 mi. grid spacing) Models require Met data observations input for initialization • Surface weather stations (manned and automated) – little help for upper atmosphere • Doppler weather radar (intensity and motion within storms) – good info but only when storms are present • Satellite observations of winds and temps (very coarse vertical resolution) • Vertically-pointing wind profiling radars – few locations even in U. S. • Weather balloons (winds, pressure, temperature, humidity) ~ 70 stations in Lower 48, ~700 world-wide Twice-daily balloon launches Mainstay of NWP model input since its inception in late ‘ 50 s-early 60’s 2 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited But there’s a Problem In the U. S. all of the above are available, but…. . • Problem is: All of the above leave many gaps (time/space), especially for high-resolution models • Problem is: In/near the battlefield, only a very few weather balloon and surface observation stations exist • Problem is: Those few stations can be sporadic in their observations Bottom line: WE NEED MORE INPUT MET DATA! 3 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited In-situ Obs from UAVs Data collected from UAVs - What are we up against? • Certainly many UAVs have a temperature sensor/readout, plus GPS winds BUT… • Are the data just displayed to the operator? – can’t use in modeling • Are the data recorded at the ground station? – probably not • Are the data recorded on-board somehow? – probably not • Are those data date/time/location-stamped? • What about pressure and humidity? – need those parameters as well • How to QC the data? – bad data or wrong time/place = poor performance. • How to format the data? – models are very picky! 4 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited TAMDAR-What is it? TAMDAR: (Tropospheric Airborne Met DAta Reporting) • Small meteorological (Met) data sensing/transmitting instrument • Air. Dat, LLC • Installed on ~150 regional commuter airliners • Collects Met data for ingest into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Models TAMDAR-U (TAMDAR-UAV) • TAMDAR downsized for installation on UAVs • Stringent restrictions on Size, Weight, and Power (SWa. P) requirements 5 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Air. Dat’s Commercial TAMDAR® System 6 Information used with permission from Air. Dat, LLC Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Know the Weather

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited The Team NMSU PSL/Technical Analysis & Applications Center (TAAC) • The Aerostar-B UAV • Established COA in southern NM • Substantial experience in conducting instrumentation flight tests Air. Dat, LLC • The TAMDAR • Instrumentation facilities (Lakewood, CO) • Data ground station and NWP modeling facilities (Florida) • Substantial experience in instrumenting commercial airline fleets • Substantial experience in ingesting TAMDAR data into models ARL • Long-term history of DOD weather research and support • High-resolution, battlefield-scale NWP model development • Substantial experience in assessing model performance 7 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited TAMDAR-U Sensor (Prototype) Mounted on Modified Aerostar Nose Cone Prototype TAMDAR-U CFD Analysis Measures and Reports -Ice presence -Relative Humidity -Median and peak turbulence -Indicated and True Airspeed -Static pressure and pressure altitude -Winds Aloft (Speed and Dir) -Air temperature (Mach corrected) -GPS Position and Time -Additional sensing possible (CBRN) -Encryption Possible 8 Information used with permission from Air. Dat, LLC Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Know the Weather

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited TAMDAR-U Sensor (Prototype) - SWa. P LRU Dimensions (Volume) Weight Max Power (Estimated) Probe (External) 2. 6”x 2. 5”x 0. 7” 3. 6” Pitot 2. 2 oz (62 g) N/A Data Acquisition, Processing, and Communications (Internal) 40 in 3 12. 2 oz (346 g) 8. 4 W 40 in 3 Internal 14. 4 oz (408 g) (reductions possible) TOTALS 9 Information used with permission from Air. Dat, LLC Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited 8. 4 W (reductions possible) Know the Weather

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited The Aerostar UAS 10 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited The Airspace & Model Domain 32 o 46. 00’ N 107 o 50. 00’ W 31 o 40. 00’ N 107 o 50. 00’ W 11 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited 32 o 46. 00’ N 106 o 30. 00’ W 31 o 40. 00’ N 106 o 30. 00’ W

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Experimental Approach § Collect TAMDAR-U data within model domain for three-hour flight § Reformat and archive data for later analyses § Run model in data-ingest mode for 3 -hrs, simulating ingest during flight § Continue model run after data ingest cutoff – generate 6 hr forecast § Compare output charts with/without TAMDAR-U ingest § Compare against any available observations 12 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

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Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Example “Test Card” 32 o 46. 00’ N 107 o 50. 00’ W 32 o 40. 00’ N 107 o 34. 00’ W Point B 32 o 46. 00’ N 106 o 30. 00’ W Normal climb to 10, 000’ MSL 305 O / 40 nm 125 O After T/O: / 40 nm LRU A/P 32 o 17. 21’ N 106 o 55. 19’ W Point A Course 305 o True At 10, 000 MSL, normal descent to 7, 000’ MSL At Point B, standard rate turn to 125 o True Return to Point A (LRU) 31 o 40. 00’ N 106 o 30. 00’ W 31 o 40. 00’ N 107 o 50. 00’ W 14 SOUTHERN BORDER ADIZ Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited At 65 kt IAS (approx. 75 kt TAS), the R/T to Pt. B will take approximately 1. 15 hr.

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Example Results 15 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited What did we find? § TAMDAR sensor could be adequately downsized/configured for UAV ops § TAMDAR-U data successfully assimilated, formatted, ingested given erratic flight patterns and altitudes of UAV missions § From a qualitative standpoint, wind flow patterns looked more realistic over and near mountain slopes with TAMDAR-U data ingest § Few observations within most of the domain for quantitative evaluation § Weather balloons launched at LRU airport compared against vertical profiles from the models were inconclusive § Very benign weather case-study days were not conducive to finding clear distinctions between models 16 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited

Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited What’s next? § Collect TAMDAR data within a data-rich model domain (commuter fleet) § Run model ingesting or withholding data as before § Select some “bad weather” case-study days (rainfall, strong winds, etc. ) § Conduct quantitative statistical analyses, observation points versus forecasts 17 Approved For Public Release; Distribution Unlimited