NASA Studies Nature of Wind to Improve eVTOL Safety
A new NASA flight campaign study is gathering information about the nature of wind and how it can affect the safety of eVTOLs particularly during takeoff and landing. Researchers are measuring wind at altitudes below 2,000 feet using drones, sensors, weather balloons and other technology as part of its ‘Advanced Exploration of Reliable Operation at Low Altitudes: Meteorology, Simulation and Technology Campaign’. The study is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
A report explains, “The goal is to fill knowledge gaps to resolve wind and weather unknowns that could hinder Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) flights. Armstrong is partnered with NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on the work, which began on July 20th.”
Grady Koch, the project’s principal investigator, commented, “Advanced conceptual planning for AAM vertiports require data collection tools to ensure safe operations. It would be great if weather input and the models could do everything, but there are unexpected variables. We have a unique opportunity to make those measurements for weather forecasting.”
The report continues, “The campaign’s first flight was also the first mission for NASA Armstrong’s Alta‑X quad rotor, remotely piloted drone. The Alta‑X flew to predetermined altitudes and hovered while mounted sensors obtained data on temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and three-dimensional wind data. To simplify use of the sensors on Alta‑X, the ground station is the same one meteorologists use.”
Koch continued, “This multipurpose experiment tests new sensor technologies and makes a detailed study of wind flow around buildings. The ground-based support sensors include the cutting-edge ‘virtual tower concept’ where we have two lidar units that use lasers to measure airflow from the ground level to 2,000 ft.”
Six NASA Armstrong meteorologists were required to prepare and deploy the equipment and complete weather forecasting, to make the field experiment possible. A 140 ft tower outfitted with ultrasonic wind sensors and several smaller 10-foot weather stations sample the wind flows through the area for the data-gathering. Upwind of the test area, a sensor measures winds aloft by emitting sound pulses. The researchers plan to use wind data to validate and improve new modelling techniques.
Koch added, “Computational fluid dynamics is used for determining airflow on pretty small features like wings on airplanes, but for this work we are using it for a meteorological problem where you have very large complex structures. The sensors are used to compare and validate those models.”
The wind campaign is part of NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project under the ‘Transformative Aeronautical Concepts Program’, which invests in ideas leading to solutions for aviation that impact safety, the environment and community as well as global growth in air traffic.
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(Top image: Drone Weather Sensor — Credit NASA)
