1. Potential Roles for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Hurricane Research and Prediction 62 nd Hurricane Conference Charleston March 3, 2008 Alexander E. MacDonald NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory

2. Two Keys to Hurricane Intensity: (1)Numerical model with resolution high enough to resolve the eyewall ( 1 km) (2)Ability to continuously, quantitativly monitor the storm intensity - 1 to 3 hour temporal resolution - Continuously for the 3 day period before landfall.

3. There are a great variety of UAS. Aerosonde Global Observer Zephyr Global Hawk AEM in situ Altair Predator B

4. NOAA UAS Program Funded! Program will apply to all NOAA missions This presentation: Tropical Storms Program Manager: Marty Ralph Budget: $ 3.3 M in 2008, $ 6.3 M in 2009

5. Examples of Hurricane Missions for UAS: 1.Global Hawk to loiter above the hurricane. 2.Aerosonde into the hurricane at low levels. 3.Zephyr over hurricanes for days at a time.

6. NOAA is working with NASA with the goal of using the Global Hawk as a platform for hurricane recon. Global Hawk could loiter above hurricanes for extended periods, and: Dropsondes Radar sampling Scatterometry Radiometry

7. NASA Global Hawk UAS Dryden Flight Research Ctr. NOAA Demonstration of the Global Hawk High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) UAS

8. Global Hawk UAS Fully autonomous Communication: UHF Line of Sight, INMARSAT Beyond Line of Sight 25600 GTOW, 9100lb Empty Wgt, 14500 Max Fuel Wingspan 116 ft 210 - 335 KTAS 1500 - 2000 lb Payload Performance: Alt 65,000 ft, Range 11,000 nm, Endurance 31 hrs Bay B Bay A Bay C DEF Bay J I GH Two Global Hawk UASs have been acquired by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, CA, and will be used, in part, for earth science research and application studies

9. Examples of Hurricane Missions for UAS: 1.Global Hawk to loiter above the hurricane. 2.Aerosonde into the hurricane at low levels. 3.Zephyr over hurricanes for days at a time.

10. Aerosonde was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at 14:08 EST on Friday November 2, 2007. Mission endurance was 17 hours 27 minutes and resulted in 7.5 hours of data collection in the core of the hurricane at altitudes less than 100m. NOAA/NASA Noel Aerosonde UAS mission

11. Aerosonde P-3 (3500 m) Take-off from Wallops Flight Facility (KWAL) 1600 UTC Rendezvous with P-3 at storm center 0525 UTC KMCF “Eye” loitering with vertical soundings (90-1500 m) Nominal altitude for the Aerosonde prior to entering the storm’s core circulation was between 300-600m. Near the center, UAS altitude was ~150m.

16. Examples of Hurricane Missions for UAS: 1.Global Hawk to loiter above the hurricane. 2.Aerosonde into the hurricane at low levels. 3.Zephyr over hurricanes for days at a time.

17. ZEPHYR - Long Duration (Many days) UAS Built by QinetiQ Corporation (UK) Problem: Payload only 4 kg !!!!!!!

18. Zephyr HALE UAS Long endurance from solar-electric power –Weeks/months flight endurance –Operating altitude 50,000 - 65,000ft –No environmental impact Drop micro-sondes into hurricanes or monitor oceanic weather events for long periods Satcom capable – commercial Iridium Low cost platform for payloads, plus: –No regular maintenance –No operating base needed –Launch and recover from ship’s deck –Fewer personnel required –No fuel distribution network needed Zephyr flies for longer for less money –~$1m production platform cost

19. Ultra-light Dropsonde * ESRL/GSD issued RFP for dropsonde in 2006 * Spec: Closest to 20 gram sonde wins * Winner: Applied Research Associates

20. Dropsonde Mechanical Design Foam housing 3.5 inch diameter 2.3 grams Air pathways for sensors Populated housing with attached streamer 38.3 grams

21. Dropsonde Electronics Packaging – Open cell foam w/ streamer Microprocessor – NXP LPC2138 Transmitter – TI CC1100, 300MHz – 1GHz Pressure – Intersema MS5534B Humidity – Sensiron SHT75 Temperature – Platinum RTD GPS – Ublox LEA-5S Power – ER14250, Li 1/2AA 3.6VDC

22. Dropsonde Electronics Specs Component Mass (g) Voltage (V) Current (mA) Packaging – housing & streamer 6.7-- Circuit board, microprocessor, transmitter 12.23.0 - 3.60.015 – 28.9 Pressure Sensor0.13 – 60.1 – 1.0 Humidity Sensor0.12.4 – 5.50.0 – 0.5 Temperature Sensor0.13.3<1.0 GPS2.12.7 – 3.339 Antennas7-- Battery103.61200 mAh Total38.3g17 – 27 hrs

23. Production System Concepts Streamer-based dropsonde dispenser

24. Zephyr – in-situ measurement using drop-sondes Lightweight drop-sondes dispensed into developing weather event or storm at intervals to measure PTU and wind speed

25. Alexander.E.MacDonald@noaa.govAlexander.E.MacDonald@noaa.gov sandymacd@comcast.net