Exploiting the Arctic Atmosphere to Enable Unmanned and Autonomous Operations

The Arctic presents unique and difficult challenges for America’s national security, economic, and science endeavors as the 21^st century evolves, especially if we strive to dominate in this important and hostile environment. We must learn how to operate freely, unencumbered by the Arctic’s severe weather, and exploiting its many opportunities for shipping, resource development, and freedom of maneuver by adopting emerging technologies such as autonomous platforms and artificial intelligence (AI).

In the Arctic, beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) will be the norm for autonomous platform operations in a region where surface temperatures plummet below -50˚ C and thick clouds blanket hundreds of square kilometers. Ensuring resource protection of all unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) which operate BVLOS, and without eyes-on knowledge of dangerous weather, is vital.

Blue Storm Associates, Inc. doing business as PEMDAS Technologies and Innovations, operates an Environmental Intelligence (EI) suite consisting of multiple technologies that include an on-platform in situ sensing system, real-time threat weather warnings, and predictive alternatives for safe navigation. Together, these unified systems provide a comprehensive EI solution for protecting deployed airborne assets in a variety of weather-impacted scenarios, such as those posed by the Arctic.

The on-platform Atmospheric Sensing and Prediction System (ASAPS®) has custom algorithms that provide real-time warnings for a variety of aviation hazards including clouds, icing, and turbulence. ASAPS is platform agnostic and customizable based on the operator’s desired level of risk tolerance. Data from ASAPS are also assimilated into the Environmental Intelligence NOWcasting (EINC) system to enhance predictive capabilities and provide short-term planning guidance.

ASAPS was integrated onto a lightweight, long-endurance UAV for two Arctic deployments in 2023: northwestern Greenland in spring and the North Slope of Alaska in fall. Flight operations in Greenland were limited due to severe weather. Flight operations in Alaska included two long endurance flights (> 24 hours) over the Arctic Ocean. Satellite imagery during both deployments indicated cold and cloudy conditions over the operating areas with hazardous conditions along the long-range flight paths and during landing. The EINC system provided information for determining optimal launch and landing windows for the UAV. During flights, the UAV navigated hazardous conditions by using real-time warnings generated by the on-platform ASAPS which provided critical information to UAV operators when the video footage from the on-tail camera system was unavailable.

Evaluation of the ASAPS measurements and warning system against co-located balloon launches and the on-tail camera system verified the importance of on-platform monitoring and warning prediction systems, particularly in the absence of additional observations in these data-sparse environments.

Through nearly 80 airborne hours over Greenland and Alaska (including the most northernmost flight of a UAV in the Arctic – within 700 nm of the North Pole), PEMDAS EI technologies proven sensors and software were instrumental to safe operations and became a “go-no go” item for launch. When all other manned and unmanned flight operations were cancelled along the north coast of Alaska due to poor weather, the ASAPS equipped UAV continued to operate by circumnavigating around the poor weather. Post evaluation of PEMDAS EI flight information also verified the importance of on-platform monitoring and warning prediction systems and the utility of ingesting sensed atmospheric parameters to improve existing weather models.