Abstract
Powered flights in the form of piloted aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been flying into tropical cyclones to obtain vital atmospheric measurements. The flight durations of these aircraft typically last only between 12 and 36 hours. Convective vertical motion properties of tropical cyclones have previously been studied. This work investigates the possibility to achieve persistent flight by harnessing the generally pervasive updrafts in the eyewall of tropical cyclones. An endurance/persistence UAV capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) is proposed and its flight characteristics are simulated using the RealFlight® simulator. Results suggest that the concept of persistent flight within the eyewall is promising and may be extendable to the rainband regions.
Highlights
Tropical cyclone looks serene and elegant from the space above, but the sheer scale of the storm can generate winds in excess of 250 kmh-1 and drive storm surge causing massive destruction to the surface below [1,2]
The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability will allow the platform to be launched from ships, e.g. an unmanned marine vehicle (UMV)
Previous research and analyses of direct flight observations of mature hurricanes had found that the updraft cores covered about 55% of the eyewall regions with w of 4.5 ms-1 at 0.5 km altitude
Summary
Tropical cyclone looks serene and elegant from the space above, but the sheer scale of the storm can generate winds in excess of 250 kmh-1 and drive storm surge causing massive destruction to the surface below [1,2]. The main structural features of a tropical cyclone are the rain bands, the eye, and the eye wall [3]. The eye is the calmest part of the storm with winds that usually do not exceed 24 kmh-1 [3]. The eye wall region consists of a ring of tall thunderstorms that produce heavy rains and often the strongest winds [3]. The wind circulations of a matured tropical cyclone can be broadly divided into the primary and the secondary circulation [5]. The primary circulation refers to the tangential flow rotating about the central axis, and the secondary circulation refers to the “in-up-and-out circulation” (low and middle level inflow, upper-level outflow) [5]. The general air flow model of a tropical cyclone is air parcels spiraling inwards, upwards and outwards [5]
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