Modern and prospective technologies for weather modification activities: A first demonstration of integrating autonomous uncrewed aircraft systems
T.P. DeFelice, Duncan Axisa, John J. Bird, C. Alexander Hirst, Eric W. Frew, Roelof Burger, Darrel Baumgardner, Gerhard Botha, Henno Havenga, Dan Breed, S. Bornstein, C. Choate, Céu Gómez-Faulk, Michael Rhodes
Abstract
We successfully implemented a framework involving an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) with atmospheric and cloud microphysical sensing and autonomous adaptive control technologies to search, identify, carry out, monitor and/or evaluate cloud seeding operations to enhance precipitation. This first-time implementation featured trials in the U.S. Great Plains area following the US aviation authority regulations during a three-week summer trial period. The trials provide insight into using UAS in an operational setting. Their broader significance is a step toward improved targeting efficiency, and hence improved operational cloud seeding activity effectiveness. The implementation of the integrated UAS provide and exploit the temporal and spatial cloud-scale sensitivities information to overcome the operational and natural uncertainties or sparseness of environmental parameters needed to increase cloud seeding operational efficiency.