Experiments by the Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute and the Japan Weather Association have revealed that unmanned aerial vehicle drones are effective for high-rise meteorological observation.On sunny days when the wind is weak, meteorological data up to 1,000 meters above the sky are available, and the Japan Weather Association expects to be able to perform various meteorological observations and samplings that were not possible before.
According to the Japan Weather Association, the experiment used a multicopter with six rotors, a gyro sensor installed, and a drone capable of autonomous flight with GPS signals.We flew high-rise buildings up to 6 meters above the sky and collected meteorological observation data.As a result, it was possible to observe up to a maximum wind speed of 1,000 meters, and it was possible to obtain high-level meteorological data.However, it was also found that the rotation of the drone's rotor could cause reception problems.Furthermore, when compared with the conventional balloon observation data, the error when using the drone was small, and the obtained data such as temperature and wind speed were generally in agreement.There was no problem with attitude stability when a small ultrasonic anemometer was mounted on the drone.
The Japan Weather Association believes that the addition of observation equipment will enable various observations that were previously difficult to carry out, and specific examples include observations of volcanic gas, volcanic ash, and air pollutants.
Up until now, high-rise meteorological observations have been carried out using balloons, but there have been problems such as the risk of falling and the heavy burden on the environment.
