Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Severe Local Storm Research and Forecasting

UAS have been, and will continue to be, integrated into field campaigns aimed to advance basic understanding of severe local storms. While this application exploits fundamental UAS strengths by operating in environments traditionally deemed too hazardous for manned aircraft, perhaps their greatest value is in their ability for controlled collection of in situ thermodynamic observations above the ground. Such transects and shallow (atmospheric boundary layer) vertical profiles have the capability of revealing near-storm and in-storm meso-γ-scale and micro-α-scale structures that cannot be represented using ground-based instruments (e.g., mobile mesonet), remote-sensing instruments (e.g., radars), or balloon-borne sensors (radiosondes).

In this talk, applications of UAS by the authors in field campaigns designed to advance understanding of severe local storms will be presented. Lessons learned from deployments over the last decade will also be offered. Upcoming UAS-based field campaigns will also be discussed.

The potential impact of the integration of UAS on severe local storm forecasting will also be presented. Results from a preliminary evaluation of UAS’s potential value filling the most acute information gaps within the stream of real-time data available to operational forecasters will be presented. Results will also be presented from an evaluation of the impact of UAS data on convection-allowing numerical weather prediction models. Ultimately, UAS have the potential to transform the surveillance meteorological observation network, but if and how their integration occurs must be informed through quantitative evaluation of their impacts when integrated into the real-time data stream and assimilated into NWP models.