Doppler Wind Lidars for UAS flight path planning and energy extraction

While attending the American Meteorological Convention (AMS) Jan 5-8, 2015 in Phoenix, AZ ... I ran into this fascinating presentation at the Seventh Symposium on Lidar Atmospheric Applications:

"The utilization of numerical forecast models and airborne Doppler Wind Lidars for UAS flight path planning and energy extraction" Steven Greco and George D Emmitt

ABSTRACT: https://ams.confex.com/ams/95Annual/...per267677.html

To put it in soaring glider pilot language... use small regional models (like Dr Jack's RASP) and on-board doppler wind lidar (DWL) to help UAVs find regions of lift (i.e. "energy extraction"). The point is to extend the range of UAS's for loitering well beyond what batteries and aerodynamic efficiencies can provide. Or simply put... use soaring skill to keep those loitering aircraft aloft. The project name is AEORA (Atmospheric Energy Opportunity Ranking Algorithm).

George D (Dave) Emmitt was the presenter. He is THE expert, scientist, and fellow of the AMS specializing in use of doppler wind lidars, both ground, aircraft and space based. Take a look at his company, Simpson Weather Associates www.swa.com In there you'll see more info including a photo of a Navy Twin Otter with lidar mounted on side. Based on a side conversation with another lidar scientist and friend, Dr Eloranta University of Wisconsin, fiber lasers could be built light and small enough to fly on UAVs and glider.... say 30-40 lbs. George "Dave" Emmitt seems to have no problem getting federal funding for these lidar projects. This one was funded by the US DoD (Army Research Laboratory).

BTW.. someone in the gliding community has already asked Dave Emmitt to present at one of the SSA Conventions several years ago. He wasn't ready at that time. But now is interested in tapping the glider cross country pilot experience for this project. Now, he is far enough along to accept an invitation to talk more about this to the soaring community.

I was fascinated by this talk and hope you also find it interesting.

Walt Rogers WX

Walt,
Put Dave in touch with me and I'll make sure he gets an invite to present at the 2016 SSA convention in Greenville SC. 211fletcher AT Gmail Dot Com

SF

Walt:

So if I got this right, DoD is paying for someone to develop an expensive piece of hardware that will weigh in around 10 Kgs and do electronically what we now spend years learning to do with the human brain? Look out the window and figure out where the next source of lift is likely to be located?

If it works as well as Ramy's finely honed skills it will kill the sport. Or at least change it beyond recognition.

When I first came into this sport there was discussion of a device called THEMI that was supposed to tell us which way to turn in order to core a thermal. Some 35 years later I don't hear anything at all about that technology.

I'm not saying the developers should stop taking DoD's coin to make the Global Hawk stay in the air longer, just wondering if this will go the way of THEMI. snark off

It won't kill the sport it will make it awesome. I'll be doing routine 300km flights in the Cherokee and occasionally 500km closed course.

On Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 12:09:05 PM UTC-6, wrote:

When I first came into this sport there was discussion of a device called THEMI that was supposed to tell us which way to turn in order to core a thermal. Some 35 years later I don't hear anything at all about that technology.

I used a Themi for about 10 years and it was a nice little thermalling aid (and a pretty good IGC logger). All it did was keep track of where the lift was and suggested which way to move your circle to center the thermal better. The only display was a couple of blinking lights that you could catch out of the corner of your eye, so no time was wasted looking at a display in the cockpit - which is what is going on now with all the thermal centering displays included in Winpilot, SeeYouMobile, etc.

My themi finally stopped getting a GPS lock (same problem as the VL?) and since I was getting to the point that I was out-guessing it most of the time, I took it out.

Kirk
66

I don't realistically think that we're about to have a DWL (Doppler Wind Lidar) in our cockpits scanning wind fields, convergence lines and thermals out 3-5km. But... it appears to be more feasible now for those with DOD (or deep) funding. Perhaps, glider pilots with high aspirations of record setting and enough money might be able to set up something like this in 5 years.

Dave Emmitt, the scientist who presented the paper is THE DWL man... involved in most of the research flying lidar wind projects.

It brings up some interesting ethics issues. If a future UAV starts behaving just like a sailplane, circling and weaving in lift... and is designed to spy and attack... perhaps manned sporting gliders in other parts of the world would be in perilous danger of being shot down (maybe I should include Idaho and Wyoming too).

Walt Rogers WX