Open AccessDropsondes with GPS windfinding
Author(s) -
Cogan J,
Greenling T,
Luces S A,
Thomas J
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1002/met.5060030304
Subject(s) - global positioning system , mesoscale meteorology , environmental science , meteorology , wind speed , remote sensing , flight test , computer science , aerospace engineering , aeronautics , simulation , geology , geography , engineering , telecommunications
Detailed, quantitative, atmospheric data are essential for accurate analysis and forecasting of mesoscale phenomena for both military and civilian applications. Small manned or unmanned aircraft can carry small sensors and dropsondes into remote or hazardous regions, at little or no risk to personnel and at a very low cost. This paper describes two prototype dropsondes that used the Global Positioning System (GPS) for measuring wind velocity. Flight tests using a helicopter produced results that gave an accuracy in wind velocity about the same as coincident rawinsondes. The test data suggest that it may be possible to delineate zones of significantly different wind velocity that are less than 200 metres thick, although further tests are needed to evaluate this possibility thoroughly.