Army Research Laboratory Progress in the Development of

Army Research Laboratory Progress in the Development of an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Weather Tactical Decision Aid Terry Jameson US Army Research Laboratory Computational and Information Sciences Directorate White Sands Missile Range, NM DSN 258 -3924, Commercial 505 -678 -3924 tjameson@arl. army. mil 12 Apr 06

WSMR Stallion AAF UAS Met Support

Background Ø HAFB 46 th TG/PSL ATDSS-II Test Program • “See-and-avoid” sensor • “Aerostar” UAS (General Dynamics, Aeronautic Defense Systems, LTD) • WSMR Controlled Airspace, Stallion AAF • Intruder Aircraft Flight Ops • “Piggy-backed” UAS Weather TDA Testbed • MET Support/Flight Ops Briefings • Nov 05, Jan 06, Feb 06 field test participation

November 2005 Aerostar UAS Flight Test, WSMR Stallion AAF

TDA Investigations/Flight OPS Met Support Ø PC-based IWEDA (implemented on laptop) Ø Rule set adapted to Aerostar UAS Ø AFWA 5 km MM 5 runs – AOI centered over Stallion Ø MM 5 sub-domain focused on actual OPS area Ø Zipped IWEDA script file e-mailed to Stallion - daily Ø Outlooks, forecasts, updates provided on-site or via phone call

Outline • Where are we today in operational support to unmanned aircraft in the Army? • Where do we want to go? • How will we get there?

Today’s UAS Weather Support Shortfalls Mission Planning DD Form 175 -1 is standard weather briefing medium Y ARIL -UNIQUE S CES UAS E R OT N ED TO THE N WEA OR TAIL PECIFIC S! S T AND IREMEN U REQ Text only • Generalized locations of hazards • Requires pilot/operator to “visualize” enroute and target area weather from text on form. Upcoming technology solves some text-only briefing problems: • Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS), Joint Flight Weather Briefer (JFWB), and Joint Environmental Toolkit (JET)… • Adds some graphics • Adds some data automation • Improves the weather database used for flight weather briefings, thus improves weather forecasts

CURRENT TECHNOLOGY: Air Force Weather Agency’s Web Page Capability Enroute Weather Depictions Example of forecast flight path cross-section based on forecast model data. Depicts horizontal/vertical distribution of clouds, turbulence and winds.

Army’s Integrated Meteorological System (IMETS) and Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) UAS Products 1 -D depiction of impacts over time 2 -D depiction of forecast surface winds at a fixed time 2 -D distribution of impacts at a fixed time Forecast & Effects Decision Aids

AF Operational Weather Squadron Web Page Capability Regional/Theater Weather Depictions Regional scale turbulence forecast shows unfavorable flying conditions across Korea for unmanned aircraft. However, finer-scale, localized, and more timely forecasts (from mesoscale models and in the future, Weather Running Estimate-Nowcast) tailored to unmanned aircraft missions can reveal favorable flying conditions.

From UAS Roadmap, 2005 -2030 Office of the Secretary of Defense, Aug 05 • Goals for unmanned aviation: • • #7: Improve adverse-weather UA capabilities to provide higher mission availability and mission effectiveness rates RECOMMENDATION: • Incorporate and/or develop all-weather practices into future UA designs From 88 th Weather Squadron Tech Report: Analysis of Weather Sensitivities and Support Requirements for Small and Micro Unmanned Aircraft Systems (88 WS/TR-05/002) • • A specialized approach to support UAS operations incorporating research, development, and training needs will advance Do. D 2005 -2030 UAS Roadmap goal #7. Weather support to small and micro UA requires specialized support • Not being met today!

WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?

WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO? • Development of TDA technology to incorporate tailored weather support to UAS flights. GOAL: Improve UAS Mission Success Rates! • Integrate weather impacts with UAS mission profiles • • Depict weather impacts along the mission route • M 2 M Capabilities Determine optimal flight path; avoiding unfavorable weather conditions INTEL Analysis Operator Tasking Sensor Collection Sensor Payload Selection Forecast & Effects Decision Aids Weather Support to the UAS Mission From Pre-launch to Post-recovery Mission Planning & Execution Platform Protection En Route Weather Updates

Technology Goals Support to the UAS Platform and Operators for: • Aircraft mission operating capabilities (icing, cross winds, turbulence, … warnings and avoidance) • Target and recovery area navigation (visibility, clouds, dust, fog, haze…) so operator doesn’t lose navigation bearing or visual orientation • Survivability, including enemy acquisition of the UAS platform… How far can the UAS be seen & heard? Where are radar dead zones due to refractive ducting, etc. ? • Enroute obstacles and no-go area constraints (terrain limits and unfavorable weather conditions…) • Fuel consumption, max range, max loiter time over target, quickest/safest routing with respect to weather conditions… • Max payload weight and aircraft climb rate in current weather conditions… • Weather-impacted communications: How far can the aircraft travel from its telemetry and control links?

Technology Goals Support to the UAS Payload Package: • Target approach: How close must the imaging payload be to see its target? TAWS-like acquisition range, target area cloud ceilings, cloud-free line-ofsight, precip, etc. • Best route/altitudes to target: What angles of approach provide the best view for onboard sensors? (best contrast, least optical turbulence, least sensor vibration…) • Target acquisition: Target/background contrast change in visible and IR (IRTSS capabilities? ) • Detection: How far away can an INTEL source EO/IR/radar/radio signal be detected passively (atmospheric effects on EM propagation…) • Weather Impacted Communications: How far away can the payload get from its data downlink?

HOW WILL WE GET THERE?

GENERAL SUPPORT CONCEPT Theater-scale JET-provided forecast model database…Joint Virtual METOC Data Cube 4 -D gridded fields of weather parameters Text, Graphic, & Digital Decision Aid Products for manual and automated applications. Nesting Nowcast 0 -3 hr Database. Automated refresh of forecast 4 -D cube for TDA pre-mission & enroute updates. LOCAL SENSORS Surface Data Sensors Upper-Air Sensors UAS MET Sensors

The R&D Concept • Combine 4 -D UA path with 4 -D weather forecast cube. Calculate weather adverse impacts on flight path. • Visualize impacts along UA path using red, amber, green and fly-through weather icons showing weather limitations based on each UA’s critical weather thresholds. • Develop/implement route optimization scheme for determination of “best” course given user constraints and forecast weather. • Weather INtelligence – Routing = WIN-R

Integrating Weather Impacts Into Mission Profiles New 4 -D Weather Forecast Grid 4 -D Weather Impacts Grid + Aircraft-Specific Weather Impacts Threshold Rules = 4 -D Weather Impacts Grid + Initial/Current Flight Path = Altered Flt Path (if needed) New Flt Path Options; Avoiding Enrte Hazards

ADDING OTHER WEATHER IMPACTS CAPABILITIES Acoustic Tactical Decision Aid output showing areas (green) where a UAV can be heard by a ground observer. The decision aid will use local terrain, gridded forecast model data, and aircraft-specific acoustic signature data to produce the output related to the color contours.

UAS Weather TDA 4 -D visualization for mission profile. UAS Pointof-View during return leg Moderate Icing Flight Level 9000 – 11000 ft Cloud Layer Tops 12000 ft Bases 7000 ft Light Turbulence Flight Level 7000 to 11000 ft UAS Point-of-View of target area. Departure Point Target Area Obscured Cloud Layer Tops 4000 ft Bases 500 ft Target Area

“Optimized” Flight Path Weather INtelligence – Routing = WIN-R • Original planned flight path routes through “red” or “unfavorable” conditions FL 040 Takeoff, T=0 hr FL 090 ro u te Target Area 3 T=9 hr FL 080 ne d Optimized FL 050 = GREEN Pl an Op Al tim ter ize nat d e/ Ro ut e Target Area 1 T=3 hr FL 140 Target Area 2 T=6 hr FL 100 FL 060 FL 040 Landing, T=12 hr • Automated flight route optimization algorithms to provide alternate routes around, over, under unfavorable conditions • Look for the “greenest” or “most favorable” path • Solution is an “all-weather” option to increase mission success rates. • Technology applicable to ALL aircraft

Current Demo Work • Initial TDA Support Concept (Near-term FY 06 deliverables): • • • AFWA 5 km MM 5 grids Stand-alone UAS rules-driven IWEDA Acoustic Detection TDA tailored to UAS ops IMETS and JAAWIN products Army Air Maneuver Routing low-level target approach visualizations (coming soon) Test periods in Oct & Dec 05; Jan, Feb… 06 TAAC Area Of Interest (AOI) • TDA Testbed co-located with UAS Technical Analysis and Applications Center (TAAC) Future work: • • • Real-time weather obs assimilation from all sources (incl. on-board TAMDAR) Local 3 -hr Nowcasts updating weather database and “correcting” local forecast grids in real time WIN-R capability - Customized, tailored, and automated flight route optimization for weather hazards avoidance. TDA available at all echelons with access to weather data “cube” Commercial Joint Mapping Tool Kit (CJMTK) & Falcon. View compatible data, displays, & visualizations M 2 M Capabilities