A Highly Miniaturized Cloud and Aerosol Instrument Package for Small UAS's

• Main Author: Lawson, R. Paul
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Arctic; Svalbard; Ny-Ålesund; Ny Ålesund; Tundra
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1542254; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1542254; https://doi.org/10.2172/1542254

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS’s), which include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) and tethered balloon systems (TBS) offer significant advantages over conventional research aircraft. They are capable of long-duration measurements of cloud properties in regions where piloted aircraft are unsafe, e.g., at very low altitudes over remote regions, such as tundra and open ocean. TBS and UAV’s are now widely recognized as a technology that can provide unprecedented insights into cloud and radiation processes, but development of miniature sensors capable of providing sophisticated measurements of cloud, aerosol and radiative properties lag behind. In Phase II of this SBIR research, Stratton Park Engineering Company, Inc. (SPEC) designed and fabricated a miniature combination optical particle probe (micro-COPP) that is capable of being flown on small UAV’s and TBS. The micro-COPP measures the size distribution of cloud particles from 2 microns to several millimeters and records high-definition images that distinguish ice particle from water drops, which is essential in mixed-phase clouds. The micro-COPP was installed along with miniature instruments to measure aerosols, cloud condensation nuclei, position and atmospheric state parameters on a small UAV and TBS that were deployed in the Arctic at the Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78° N. latitude).