Meteorological Application of an Instrumented Unmanned Aircraft System: Structure Function Parameters and Sodar Comparison Student Team

The ability to obtain meteorological measurements in the planetary boundary layer for quantification of clear-air turbulence is investigated using the Small Multifunction Research and Teaching Sonde (SMARTSonde). With an instrumented unmanned aircraft, a series of flights were conducted in the spring of 2013 to obtain meteorological variables at Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field Station (KAEFS) near Purcell, Oklahoma. Flying in step-wise helical ascent patterns allows for the calculation of the temperature structure function parameter, í µí° ¶ í µí±‡ 2. A series of varying methods of calculation are used to examine which provides a more robust result. Given that the flights were conducted near remote sensing instruments, data collected are compared to sodar by a comparison of return power. This results in the possibility for verification of remote sensors by in-situ measurements from an unmanned aircraft system (UAS).