Atmospheric research is usually conducted by sensors through the atmosphere using weather balloons. Due to the shape of New Zealand, these balloons are regularly blown over the ocean and never recovered. The collected data is transmitted back to the ground during the flight, but the sensors are usually lost. Because a balloon released is likely to be lost, cost limits the number of sensors included and frequency of the launches. In the search for a more cost-effective method of collecting scientific data, we teamed up with NIWA. We investigated the possibility of using a UAS for carrying sensors in place of the traditional weather balloons.
The sensors were attached 10 meters below one of the University’s NAVIs using a 10-meter tether. The test flights were conducted to heights between 500 meters and 1 kilometre. In New Zealand UAS are unable to fly above 400 feet under normal conditions. To conduct these tests we obtained a NOTAM from the CAA.
Due to the high altitude of these flights we were able to capture some stunning imagery
To recover the payload, it was lowered to the ground. The UAV then descended while moving laterally to avoid the tether bundling up presenting a risk to the aircraft.