Small Autonomous Aircraft for Economical Oceanographic Observations on a Wide Scale

Abstract

Aircraft serve as powerful platforms for oceanographic observations, but high costs and short range often limit their utility. Fortunately - at least for observations which can be made with lightweight instruments - these constraints should be substantially relieved over the next few years. A new class of unmanned aircraft will soon combine capability of long-range autonomous operation with economy and convenience afforded by remarkably small size. We are developing such an aircraft, which will be able to carry a payload of about 1 kg on missions spanning 7500 km and 4 days' endurance. Its weight will be under 15 kg, and wingspan about 3 m. Aircraft of this type will be easy to deploy from unprepared sites; they will be capable of worldwide operation, using satellites for navigation and data relay; and their total operating cost will amount to a few tens of dollars per flight-hour. We call these aircraft 'Aerosondes', since in the first instance they will be used for long-range meteorological soundings. Flexibility and economy gives these aircraft very significant potential in this role, and for a variety of atmospheric and oceanographic observations.