Kite as a sensor: wind and state estimation in tethered flying systems

Cayon, Oriol; Watson, Simon; Schmehl, Roland

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-2161-2025

Articles | Volume 10, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-2161-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-2161-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 10

Research article

|

13 Oct 2025

Research article |

| 13 Oct 2025

Kite as a sensor: wind and state estimation in tethered flying systems

Oriol Cayon, Simon Watson, and Roland Schmehl

Data sets

Kite power flight data acquired on 8 October 2019 M. Schelbergen et al. https://doi.org/10.4121/19376174.V1

Kitepower flight data acquired on 27 November 2023 O. Cayon et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14237421

Kitepower flight data acquired on 5 June 2024 O. Cayon et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14238586

Model code and software

Extended Kalman Filter for Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) (v1.2.0-paper) O. Cayon https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15269632

Short summary

This study demonstrates how kites used to generate wind energy can act as sensors to measure wind conditions and system behaviour. By combining data from existing sensors, such as those measuring position, speed, and forces on the tether, a sensor fusion technique accurately estimates wind conditions and kite performance. This approach can be integrated into control systems to help optimize energy generation and enhance the reliability of these systems under changing wind conditions.