RAPID: Support for Multi-sUAS Evaluation of Techniques for Measurement of Atmospheric Properties (MET MAP)

这项奖励将为参与一个利用无人机系统(UAS)进行大气观测的小型实地项目提供资金。UAS对大气科学家来说是很有吸引力的平台，因为它们能够飞到其他观测系统无法到达的区域，例如超级单体雷暴的底部。这一奖项将使研究人员有机会比较四种不同的小型UAS及其仪器有效载荷。这项工作通过开发和测试新技术产生了更广泛的影响，这些技术将有助于提高对大气过程的理解以及预报天气和气候的能力。该项目将在科罗拉多州的博尔德大气天文台(BAO)进行。这四架UAS将在仪表塔附近飞行，也在科罗拉多州立大学CHILL雷达和德克萨斯理工大学Ka波段移动雷达的范围内。这将使研究人员有机会将UAS与经过验证的地面测量进行比较。第二步是将所有四架无人机都飞到感兴趣的目标上，例如云或雷雨。这些数据将用于改进目前的系统，并作为未来系统开发的基准。

This award will provide funding for participation in a small field project making use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for atmospheric observations. UASs are attractive platforms for atmospheric scientists due to their ability to fly into regions where other observation systems can?t, such as under the base of a supercell thunderstorm. This award will allow researchers the opportunity to compare four different small UASs and their instrument payloads. This work has broader impact through the development and testing of new technologies which will help to improve the understanding of atmospheric processes and the capability to forecast weather and climate.The project will take place at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) in Colorado. The four UASs will be flown near the instrumented BAO tower and also in the range of the Colorado State University CHILL radar and the Texas Tech University Ka-band mobile radar. This will allow the researchers the opportunity to compare the UASs against proven, ground-based measurements. The second step will be to fly all four of the UASs on a target of interest, such as a cloud or a thunderstorm. The data will be used to refine the current systems and as a benchmark for the development of future systems.