A High Resolution Radar-Acoustic Sensor for Detection of Close-In Air Turbulence

摘要

This paper presents a novel 2D imaging sensor for the identification of regions air turbulence in front of a UAV. It comprises a swash-plate mirror scanned Radar Acoustic Sounding System (scaRASS) to produce high resolution “images” of the air in front of the UAV. The 40 kHz/ 17 GHz narrow beam RASS produces images based on Bragg enhanced Doppler radar reflections from the acoustic pulse as it travels. The technique is suited to imaging still air, or air moving in a laminar fashion but returns will be disrupted by air turbulence, so the 3D image generated will identify clear regions in front of the UAV. Tests using fan generated vortices showed some disruption and ongoing research using Schlieren imaging is being used to quantify the interaction of the acoustic pulse with the turbulence.