High Altitude Unmanned Air System for Atmospheric Science Missions

Le résumé fourni par la source

This paper is a record of some of the design and operational aspects of developing an afiordable unmanned air system capable of logging and processing atmospheric observations across a range of altitudes. We consider the aeronautical and computational challenges of designing a recoverable and re-usable lighter-than-air system for delivering lightweight science payloads to the stratosphere and we examine the performance of the system through a physics-based Monte Carlo ∞ight simulation model and the analysis of two test ∞ights (ASTRA 7 and 8). We then review the development process to date of a self-recovering payload, based on a lightweight, balloon (or aircraft) launched glider capable of autonomous return of the instruments to a preordained collection site. We also consider possible future extensions of the technology, including a multi-vehicle system designed to enable the construction of an emulator (surrogate model) of an atmospheric quantity across a specifled block of airspace.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.