A small unmanned aerial system (UAS) for coastal atmospheric research: preliminary results from New Zealand

Abstract

Experiments conducted in the low-altitude coastal atmosphere in New Zealand have demonstrated the potential of a new unmanned aerial system (UAS) for meteorological research. The Kahu unmanned aerial vehicle flies autonomously using GPS and pre-programmed waypoints, collecting observations of air temperature and relative humidity that are relayed to a ground-station near-instantaneously. Experiments conducted in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, show that the Kahu's radio transmission system can successfully transmit data across the ocean surface at distances up to 25 km. Accuracy of the meteorological data collected by the UAS was assessed via a direct comparison with weather station sensors and radiosonde soundings at heights of up to 500 m in the Bay of Plenty. Close agreement between the UAS, radiosonde and weather station data suggests that the Kahu UAS has considerable scope as a new field research tool in New Zealand, capable of providing reliable atmospheric data that can complement and even supplement conventional low-altitude sampling techniques.

Keywords:

• UAS
• UAV
• coastal atmosphere
• intercomparison
• radiosonde
• temperature
• humidity
• marine meteorology
• New Zealand

Acknowledgements

We should like to thank our colleagues at the Defence Technology Agency for their assistance in planning and completing the Kahu UAS field experiments. Mr Daniel Ashman contributed to the integration of the meteorological sensors with the airframe and autopilot and was also the UAV operator for flights in the Bay of Plenty. Additional funding and support for this research from the Office of Naval Research (USA) (Program Element 0602271N) is greatly appreciated. Meteorological equipment used in this study was supplied by the Defence Technology Agency, the New Zealand Met Service (Paraparaumu) and the School of Artillery of the New Zealand Army. Finally, we are grateful to Mr Ian Whaley and two anonymous reviewers for providing thoughtful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

Supplementary data available online at www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03036758.2012.695280 Supplementary file: The location and timing of the radiosonde launch and UAV flight during the intercomparison experiment at Thornton Beach, New Zealand