Unmanned aircrafts measure atmosphere dynamics with formation flying

Researchers are already using small, unmanned aircraft to take single-point atmospheric measurements like wind speed, air temperature, and air pressure. By flying multiple unmanned aircraft in tight formation while they are simultaneously recording atmospheric data, investigators could distinguish temporal vs spatial variations and could directly measure important atmospheric parameters that depend on gradients. Until now, scientists have only been able to hypothesize about small-scale changes in atmospheric dynamics. With this new technology, they will be able to gather information on complex processes such as the generation of turbulence and pollution transport. Successful test flights in Utah and Peru have already uncovered unexpected fine-scale temperature variations that may be due to spatial gradients, and investigators will soon be conducting proof-of-concept formation flight testing over the Colorado Front Range.