Measuring low-altitude wind gusts using the unmanned aerial vehicle GustAV

Abstract

A small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV) was developed with the specific objective to explore atmospheric wind gusts at low altitudes below 500 m. These gusts have significant impact on the flight characteristics and performance of SUAVs. The SUAV carried an advanced air-data system that includes a five-hole probe, which was adapted for this specific application. In several flight tests the entire test system was qualified and gust data were recorded. The subsequent experimentally derived gust data were post-processed and compared with turbulence spectra of the MIL-HDBK-1797 von Kármán turbulence model. On the day of the flight test, the experimental results did not fully match the prediction of the von Kármán model. Meanwhile, the wind measuring apparatus were proven to be able to measure gust during flight. Therefore, a broader sampling will be required to generalize the gust measurements and be compared with the existing models.