Use of predictive lidar measurements in alleviating turbulence-induced disturbances of aircraft in flight

Paul A. Robinson

doi:10.1117/12.241056

27 May 1996 Use of predictive lidar measurements in alleviating turbulence-induced disturbances of aircraft in flight

Paul A. Robinson

Proceedings Volume 2737, Air Traffic Control Technologies II; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.241056
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1996, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Many clear air turbulence (CAT) encounters have been identified as having been caused by aircraft flying through discrete vortices such as those generated by Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that if an aircraft's autopilot can be forewarned of an impending hazard, by means of atmospheric measurements ahead, it can control the aircraft in such a way as to reduce significantly the effect of the disturbance. There are several technologies currently available which can make atmospheric measurements ahead of an aircraft in flight, but for atmospheric phenomena which may be invisible to the naked eye (e.g. CAT), airborne lidar systems have shown the greatest potential. Results presented in this paper illustrate the potential advantages of feeding-forward such predictive measurements to an aircraft's control system in cruising flight when encountering severe turbulence induced by a vortex, in order to alleviate the effect of the disturbance. It is shown, by means of flight simulation, that active pitch control in vortex-induced turbulence encounter can significantly reduce the level of upset experienced by an aircraft. Flight simulations were performed which corroborated well with actual in-flight encounters, and illustrated the effectiveness of appropriate pitch control.

Citation Download Citation

Paul A. Robinson "Use of predictive lidar measurements in alleviating turbulence-induced disturbances of aircraft in flight", Proc. SPIE 2737, Air Traffic Control Technologies II, (27 May 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.241056

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