1 / 23

Army Research Laboratory

Army Research Laboratory. Progress in the Development of an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Weather Tactical Decision Aid. Terry Jameson US Army Research Laboratory Computational and Information Sciences Directorate White Sands Missile Range, NM DSN 258-3924, Commercial 505-678-3924

senta
Download Presentation

Army Research Laboratory

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Army Research Laboratory Progress in the Development of an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Weather Tactical Decision Aid Terry Jameson US Army Research Laboratory Computational and Information Sciences Directorate White Sands Missile Range, NM DSN 258-3924, Commercial 505-678-3924 tjameson@arl.army.mil 12 Apr 06

  2. WSMR Stallion AAF UAS Met Support

  3. Background • HAFB 46th TG/PSL ATDSS-II Test Program • “See-and-avoid” sensor • “Aerostar” UAS (General Dynamics, Aeronautic • Defense Systems, LTD) • WSMR Controlled Airspace, Stallion AAF • Intruder Aircraft Flight Ops • “Piggy-backed” UAS Weather TDA Testbed • MET Support/Flight Ops Briefings • Nov 05, Jan 06, Feb 06 field test participation

  4. November 2005 Aerostar UAS Flight Test, WSMR Stallion AAF

  5. TDA Investigations/Flight OPS Met Support • PC-based IWEDA (implemented on laptop) • Rule set adapted to Aerostar UAS • AFWA 5km MM5 runs – AOI centered over Stallion • MM5 sub-domain focused on actual OPS area • Zipped IWEDA script file e-mailed to Stallion - daily • Outlooks, forecasts, updates provided on-site or via phone call

  6. Outline • Where are we today in operational support to unmanned aircraft in the Army? • Where do we want to go? • How will we get there?

  7. Today’s UAS Weather Support Shortfalls Mission Planning • DD Form 175-1 is standard weather • briefing medium • Text only • Generalized locations of hazards • Requires pilot/operator to “visualize” • enroute and target area weather from • text on form. NOT NECESSARILY TAILORED TO UAS-UNIQUE AND SPECIFIC WEATHER REQUIREMENTS! • Upcoming technology solves some • text-only briefing problems: • Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS), • Joint Flight Weather Briefer (JFWB), and • Joint Environmental Toolkit (JET)… • Adds some graphics • Adds some data automation • Improves the weather database used for • flight weather briefings, thus improves • weather forecasts

  8. CURRENT TECHNOLOGY: Air Force Weather Agency’s Web Page Capability Enroute Weather Depictions Example of forecast flight path cross-section based on forecast model data. Depicts horizontal/vertical distribution of clouds, turbulence and winds.

  9. Army’s Integrated Meteorological System (IMETS) and Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) UAS Products 1-D depiction of impacts over time 2-D depiction of forecast surface winds at a fixed time 2-D distribution of impacts at a fixed time Forecast & Effects Decision Aids

  10. AF Operational Weather Squadron Web Page Capability Regional/Theater Weather Depictions Regional scale turbulence forecast shows unfavorable flying conditions across Korea for unmanned aircraft. However, finer-scale, localized, and more timely forecasts (from mesoscale models and in the future, Weather Running Estimate-Nowcast) tailored to unmanned aircraft missions can reveal favorable flying conditions.

  11. From 88th Weather Squadron Tech Report: Analysis of Weather Sensitivities and Support Requirements for Small and Micro Unmanned Aircraft Systems (88WS/TR-05/002) • A specialized approach to support UAS operations incorporating research, development, and training needs will advance DoD 2005-2030 UAS Roadmap goal #7. • Weather support to small and micro UA requires specialized support • Not being met today! From UAS Roadmap, 2005-2030Office of the Secretary of Defense, Aug05 • Goals for unmanned aviation: • #7: Improve adverse-weather UA capabilities to provide higher mission availability and mission effectiveness rates • RECOMMENDATION: • Incorporate and/or develop all-weather practices into future UA designs

  12. WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?

  13. WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO? • Development of TDA technology to incorporate tailored weather support to UAS flights. • GOAL: Improve UAS Mission Success Rates! • Integrate weather impacts with UAS mission profiles • Depict weather impacts along the mission route • Determine optimal flight path; avoiding unfavorable weather conditions • M2M Capabilities INTEL Analysis Operator Tasking Sensor Collection Sensor Payload Selection Platform Protection Weather Support to the UAS Mission From Pre-launch to Post-recovery Forecast & Effects Decision Aids En Route Weather Updates Mission Planning & Execution

  14. Technology GoalsSupport to the UAS Platform and Operators for: • Aircraft mission operating capabilities (icing, cross winds, turbulence, … warnings and avoidance) • Target and recovery area navigation (visibility, clouds, dust, fog, haze…) so operator doesn’t lose navigation bearing or visual orientation • Survivability, including enemy acquisition of the UAS platform… How far can the UAS be seen & heard? Where are radar dead zones due to refractive ducting, etc.? • Enroute obstacles and no-go area constraints (terrain limits and unfavorable weather conditions…) • Fuel consumption, max range, max loiter time over target, quickest/safest routing with respect to weather conditions… • Max payload weight and aircraft climb rate in current weather conditions… • Weather-impacted communications: How far can the aircraft travel from its telemetry and control links?

  15. Technology GoalsSupport to the UAS Payload Package: • Target approach: How close must the imaging payload be to see its target? TAWS-like acquisition range, target area cloud ceilings, cloud-free line-of-sight, precip, etc. • Best route/altitudes to target: What angles of approach provide the best view for onboard sensors? (best contrast, least optical turbulence, least sensor vibration…) • Target acquisition: Target/background contrast change in visible and IR (IRTSS capabilities?) • Detection: How far away can an INTEL source EO/IR/radar/radio signal be detected passively (atmospheric effects on EM propagation…) • Weather Impacted Communications: How far away can the payload get from its data downlink?

  16. HOW WILL WE GET THERE?

  17. GENERAL SUPPORT CONCEPT Theater-scale JET-provided forecast model database…Joint Virtual METOC Data Cube  4-D gridded fields of weather parameters Text, Graphic, & Digital Decision Aid Products for manual and automated applications. Nesting  Nowcast 0-3hr Database. Automated refresh of forecast 4-D cube for TDA pre-mission & enroute updates. LOCAL SENSORS Surface Data Sensors Upper-Air Sensors UAS MET Sensors

  18. The R&D Concept • Combine 4-D UA path with 4-D weather forecast cube. Calculate weather adverse impacts on flight path. • Visualize impacts along UA path using red, amber, green and fly-through weather icons showing weather limitations based on each UA’s critical weather thresholds. • Develop/implement route optimization scheme for determination of “best” course given user constraints and forecast weather. • Weather INtelligence – Routing = WIN-R

  19. 4-D Weather Impacts Grid 4-D Weather Impacts Grid New 4-D Weather Forecast Grid Aircraft-Specific Weather Impacts Threshold Rules Integrating Weather Impacts Into Mission Profiles + = = + Initial/Current Flight Path New Flt Path Options; Avoiding Enrte Hazards Altered Flt Path (if needed)

  20. ADDING OTHER WEATHER IMPACTS CAPABILITIES Acoustic Tactical Decision Aid output showing areas (green) where a UAV can be heard by a ground observer. The decision aid will use local terrain, gridded forecast model data, and aircraft-specific acoustic signature data to produce the output related to the color contours.

  21. UAS Weather TDA 4-D visualization for mission profile. UAS Point-of-View during return leg Moderate Icing Flight Level 9000 – 11000 ft Light Turbulence Flight Level 7000 to 11000 ft Cloud Layer Tops 12000 ft Bases 7000 ft UAS Point-of-View of target area. Departure Point Target Area Obscured Cloud Layer Tops 4000 ft Bases 500 ft Target Area

  22. “Optimized” Flight Path Weather INtelligence – Routing = WIN-R • Original planned flight path routes through “red” or “unfavorable” conditions • Automated flight route optimization algorithms to provide alternate routes around, over, under unfavorable conditions • Look for the “greenest” or “most favorable” path • Solution is an “all-weather” option to increase mission success rates. • Technology applicable to ALL aircraft Target Area 2 T=6hr FL100 Target Area 1 T=3hr FL140 FL090 Target Area 3 T=9hr FL080 Alternate/ Optimized Route Optimized FL050 = GREEN Planned route FL040 FL060 Takeoff, T=0hr FL040 Landing, T=12hr

  23. Current Demo Work TDA Testbed co-located with UAS Technical Analysis and Applications Center (TAAC) • Initial TDA Support Concept (Near-term FY06 deliverables): • AFWA 5km MM5 grids • Stand-alone UAS rules-driven IWEDA • Acoustic Detection TDA tailored to UAS ops • IMETS and JAAWIN products • Army Air Maneuver Routing low-level target approach visualizations (coming soon) • Test periods in Oct & Dec 05; Jan, Feb… 06 TAAC Area Of Interest (AOI) • Future work: • Real-time weather obs assimilation from all sources (incl. on-board TAMDAR) • Local 3-hr Nowcasts updating weather database and “correcting” local forecast grids in real time • WIN-R capability - Customized, tailored, and automated flight route optimization for weather hazards avoidance. • TDA available at all echelons with access to weather data “cube” • Commercial Joint Mapping Tool Kit (C-JMTK) & FalconView compatible data, displays, & visualizations • M2M Capabilities

More Related