DOE teams with 惭厂鲍鈥檚 Raspet Flight Research Lab to fine-tune UAS used in atmospheric research
Contact: Chris Bryant
STARKVILLE, Miss. 鈥 A U.S. Department of Energy facility is partnering with Mississippi State鈥檚 flight research laboratory to fine-tune the in-flight performance of unmanned aircraft systems used in atmospheric research.
Officials from , known as ARM, recently traveled to 惭厂鲍鈥檚 Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, where more than a dozen scientific collection instruments have been integrated into a Raspet unmanned aircraft system, or UAS, and flown.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e very enthused about this collaboration,鈥 said Beat Schmid, manager of the at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 鈥淩aspet has a very mature program. We are learning from them how to have a stable operation and how to effectively operate these UAS.鈥
The ARM representatives鈥 multi-day spring visit to Starkville is an early step in the yearlong, $300,000 research collaboration, which later will include research flights near Greenwood and Blackwell, Oklahoma.
鈥淩aspet deeply values the opportunity for scientific collaboration with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement team,鈥 said Tom Brooks, Raspet Flight Lab director. 鈥淭he ARM 鈥撉嗲嗖菔悠 partnership is strong. Together, we are advancing science through the exploration of the effectiveness of highly specialized instrumentation at its earliest development stage.鈥
ARM uses UAS to collect atmospheric data to help drive research worldwide. ARM collects, processes, quality-checks, stores and distributes continuous measurements gathered in climate-critical locations around the world. Data gathered is used by scientists to improve predictive computer models for climate change.
鈥淓verybody around the world can download our research data free of charge,鈥 said Fan Mei, who oversees science activities for the ARM Aerial Facility.
Based out of PNNL in southeastern Washington, ARM Aerial Facility operates its own UAS 鈥 a custom-built version of the TigerShark Block 3, one type of UAS that Raspet also operates. ARM develops instrumentation for atmospheric measurements, flying them aboard its aircraft for testing and data collection. While its own UAS undergoes upgrades and modifications, ARM is collaborating with Raspet to accelerate its research.
A first step is taking the experimental scientific instrumentation from ARM鈥檚 aircraft and integrating it into Raspet鈥檚.
鈥淭he uniqueness of our current payload is that all the instrumentation is miniaturized,鈥 said Mei. 鈥淚t was our first time to deploy them aboard a TigerShark UAS.鈥 聽
In ARM鈥檚 version of the TigerShark, known as an ArcticShark, a nose cone mounted to the front of the aircraft holds an aerosol inlet in position. This lightweight, cylindrical shaft that protrudes 13 inches, has a narrow opening at its front where aerosols enter during flight and are distributed to scientific instruments aboard the aircraft for analysis. 聽聽
Modifications to Raspet鈥檚 aircraft were necessary to equip it with the inlet and to integrate ARM鈥檚 instrumentation. One of Raspet鈥檚 青青草视频 partners, the Advanced Composites Institute at 青青草视频, designed and 3-D printed a mold used to produce a fiberglass nose cone that was attached to Raspet鈥檚 aircraft.
Further testing of ARM鈥檚 scientific instruments flying aboard Raspet鈥檚 TigerShark will be scheduled soon.聽
Once COVID-related travel restrictions ease, Raspet and ARM personnel plan to travel to ARM鈥檚 Southern Great Plains atmospheric observatory along the Oklahoma-Kansas border. There, at the world鈥檚 largest and most extensive atmospheric research facility, the team will conduct research to confirm the validity of the new instrumentation while collecting data.聽聽
Alan Martinez is Raspet鈥檚 principal investigator for the project.
ABOUT ARM
The is a multi-laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) scientific user facility and a key contributor to national and international climate research efforts.
ABOUT RASPET FLIGHT RESEARCH LABORATORY
惭厂鲍鈥檚 is the only institution in the world that is designated both as the FAA鈥檚 UAS Safety Research Facility and as official UAS test sites for both the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security.聽Home to a fleet of the largest and most capable unmanned aircraft in academic use,聽聽has secured more than $50 million in federal research and testing contracts since 2017 and remains a world leader in composite materials research.聽