AIR-LAUNCHED WINDSONDE
Abstract
An air- dropped, instrumented sonde for measuring wind profiles has been developed. It requires no tracking, no aircraft loitering, and is relatively inexpensive. The instrument is essentially an arrow-shaped sonde that remains at zero angle of attack during descent. Wind direction and velocity are inferred from orientation of the sonde axis with respect to vertical and magnetic north. An air-bearing gyroscope and a magnetometer are used to measure this orientation. Performance of the sonde has been verified through both balloon-launched and aircraft-launched test series. Balloon launchings provided preliminary test results indicating that the concept was viable and also indicating areas of improvement required to eliminate intermodulation problems within the sonde electronics. Aircraft launchings provided wind data that compared favorably with concurrent radiosonde measurements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 29, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0694498
Entities
People
- Lyle E. Koehler
- Stephen F. Rohrbough
Organizations
- Honeywell International, Inc.