What’s it about? UAS, Hurricane, In Situ
Sampling the lower boundary layer of tropical and other large storms is both extremely useful and difficult. Increased use of targeted in situ measurements has been proposed to continue improving tropical cyclone intensity forecasts. Generally, the number of flights per storm has been limited to single-digit numbers. Increasing the number of flights per storm affords the ability to greatly increase the temporal and spatial sampling, allowing for improved models and forecasts. The largest single barrier to realizing this objective is the total cost of the aircraft, and overcoming this obstacle requires a purpose-built system.
Speaker: Jack Elston, Ph.D., Black Swift Technologies LLC
Dr. Elston, CEO, and co-founder, Black Swift Technologies, a UAS solutions provider focused on scientific applications. Elston received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado on work that developed a complex meshed network, UAS, and control algorithms for in situ samplings of tornadic supercell thunderstorms. He has a strong background in conducting in-situ atmospheric measurements from UAS and is intimately familiar with operating unmanned aircraft in hazardous conditions.
