Mission Performance of the Tempest Unmanned Aircraft System in Supercell Storms

摘要

The Tempest unmanned aircraft system was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of sampling severe convective storms with small unmanned aircraft. The unmanned aircraft system, including its ground support vehicles, was deployed during the Spring 2010 VORTEX2 (second Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment) field experiment. The purpose was validation and verification of the systems, capabilities, and effectiveness of a small unmanned aircraft system to operate in a supercell thunderstorm, within current airspace regulatory constraints. The mission concept of operations that determined the performance requirements for the airframe, and command, control, and communications systems, is presented. The airframe design process is described, with emphasis on design solutions unique to a low-cost, portable storm-penetrating unmanned aircraft system. Results from test flights and from the Spring 2010 VORTEX2 deployment are compared to evaluate the performance of the airframe subsystems, particularly the autopilot. A preliminary analysis of the local atmospheric turbulence spectrum is also presented. Finally, conclusions are presented with a discussion of the engineering and science needs for the next-generation storm-penetrating unmanned aircraft system.