Flying UltraSonic – A new way to measure the wind

Abstract. Measurements of flow conditions at complex sites that are difficult to install a met mast are expensive and can only be carried out with great effort. Concepts and new measuring methods are needed to evaluate these sites. This article presents an experiment in which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), more precisely a helicopter, was equipped with a standard 3-D ultrasonic anemometer. This UAV was positioned closed to a meteorological measuring mast and remained stationary at a constant altitude to measure the wind speed components. The data of the UAV were compared with the measurements of an ultrasonic sensor installed on the met mast. The measurements shows a deviation of 0.1 m/s for the horizontal speed. A comparison of the PSDs shows a very good agreement.