METHOD FOR DETERMINING WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION USING UNMANNED AIRCRAFT Russian patent published in 2021 - IPC G01W1/02 G01W1/08 

FIELD: meteorology.

SUBSTANCE: invention can be used to determine the speed and direction of the wind. Essence: an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with navigation devices as part of a satellite navigation system module, a three-axis angular velocity sensor, a three-axis magnetometer and a three-axis accelerometer is launched into the area of interest. The UAV is configured to automatically rotate its longitudinal axis in the direction of the wind in the hold mode. When the UAV reaches a point in space with given coordinates, it is transferred to the mode of holding the given coordinates, which is periodically turned off for the time the UAV's speed is established. When the hold mode is deactivated, the parameters of the UAV accelerated movement mode are determined - the current values of the track magnetic angle and ground speed. The magnetic track angle is determined from the data of the three-axis magnetometer and the pitch and roll angles determined from the data of the three-axis angular velocity sensor. Ground speed is determined by cumulative summation of the true acceleration module of the UAV. The module of the true acceleration of the UAV is calculated from the projections of the vector of the apparent acceleration of the UAV, measured by a three-axis accelerometer, and the pitch and roll angles. The values of the module of the apparent acceleration of the UAV and the acceleration of gravity are then compared. If the values are equal, a decision is made to switch the UAV to the uniform motion mode. In this case, the corresponding steady ground speed and magnetic angle are taken as the speed and direction of the wind. To determine the vertical wind profile, these operations are repeated for other specified UAV heights.

EFFECT: increased accuracy and enhanced functionality.

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