Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV
Profiling wind information when using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) is vital for atmospheric profiling and monitoring attitude during flight. Wind speed on an sUAV can be measured directly using ultrasonic anemometers or by calculating its attitude control information. The former method req...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Drones |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/10/289 |
| _version_ | 1827650516962770944 |
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| author | Jun Inoue Kazutoshi Sato |
| author_facet | Jun Inoue Kazutoshi Sato |
| author_sort | Jun Inoue |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Profiling wind information when using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) is vital for atmospheric profiling and monitoring attitude during flight. Wind speed on an sUAV can be measured directly using ultrasonic anemometers or by calculating its attitude control information. The former method requires a relatively large payload for an onboard ultrasonic anemometer, while the latter requires real-time flight log data access, which depends on the UAV manufacturers. This study proposes the feasibility of a small thermal anemometer to measure wind speeds inexpensively using a small commercial quadcopter (DJI Mavic2: M2). A laboratory experiment demonstrated that the horizontal wind speed bias increased linearly with ascending sUAV speed. A smoke experiment during hovering revealed the downward wind bias (1.2 m s<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>) at a 12-cm height above the M2 body. Field experiments in the ice-covered ocean demonstrated that the corrected wind speed agreed closely with the shipboard wind data observed by a calibrated ultrasonic anemometer. A dual-mount system comprising thermal anemometers was proposed to measure wind speed and direction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:20:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-367059011ff145ed8ba28d6f502ca985 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-446X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:20:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Drones |
| spelling | doaj.art-367059011ff145ed8ba28d6f502ca9852023-11-23T23:49:53ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2022-10-0161028910.3390/drones6100289Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAVJun Inoue0Kazutoshi Sato1National Institute of Polar Research, Tachikawa 190-8518, JapanKitami Institute of Technology, Kitami 090-8507, JapanProfiling wind information when using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) is vital for atmospheric profiling and monitoring attitude during flight. Wind speed on an sUAV can be measured directly using ultrasonic anemometers or by calculating its attitude control information. The former method requires a relatively large payload for an onboard ultrasonic anemometer, while the latter requires real-time flight log data access, which depends on the UAV manufacturers. This study proposes the feasibility of a small thermal anemometer to measure wind speeds inexpensively using a small commercial quadcopter (DJI Mavic2: M2). A laboratory experiment demonstrated that the horizontal wind speed bias increased linearly with ascending sUAV speed. A smoke experiment during hovering revealed the downward wind bias (1.2 m s<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>) at a 12-cm height above the M2 body. Field experiments in the ice-covered ocean demonstrated that the corrected wind speed agreed closely with the shipboard wind data observed by a calibrated ultrasonic anemometer. A dual-mount system comprising thermal anemometers was proposed to measure wind speed and direction.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/10/289wind speed measurementslaboratory experimentsfield experiments in a cold region |
| spellingShingle | Jun Inoue Kazutoshi Sato Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV Drones wind speed measurements laboratory experiments field experiments in a cold region |
| title | Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV |
| title_full | Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV |
| title_fullStr | Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV |
| title_short | Wind Speed Measurement by an Inexpensive and Lightweight Thermal Anemometer on a Small UAV |
| title_sort | wind speed measurement by an inexpensive and lightweight thermal anemometer on a small uav |
| topic | wind speed measurements laboratory experiments field experiments in a cold region |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/10/289 |
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