A Fast-Response Atmospheric Turbulence (FRAT) Probe with Gas-Sampling Ducts

Aeroprobe proposes to design, construct and test an air-data probe with substantially higher frequency response than currently available. This fast-response atmospheric turbulence probe (FRAT probe) will be able to sample ambient air, and measure CO2 and other gases. Phase I work demonstrated that with a proper design of the probe nose, ingestion holes for gas sampling do not interfere with port pressure measurements. Variations of this probe will be able to operate in harsh atmospheric environments. High-frequency response and resistance to water spray were accommodated by mounting the pressure sensors in small chambers very close to the probe nose surface. To return the absolute instantaneous velocity of air and calculate atmospheric turbulence, the motion of the probe and the aircraft will be measured. To this end, the components of an Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS), namely accelerometers, magnetometers, GPS and other electronic equipment have been assembled, and tested. These components will be packaged into a stand-alone probe system that will include an A/D board converter and a microcomputer. Software for post-processing of data will be developed. This probe system will be tested on CO2 towers and mounted on an aircraft to measure gas contents, humidity, and other atmospheric thermodynamic quantities.

This instrument may appear useful in commercial micro-meteorological applications that require the measurement of sensible heat, water vapor and trace gas fluxes, as they relate to air quality. It could also be mounted on small platforms that could form a swarm of UAVs and monitor the dispersion of pollutants or atmospheric contamination generated by terrorist activities. It is anticipated that the US DoD or the Department of Homeland Security may be interested in such applications.

The attractive features of this product are that it will include all components in a tightly packaged probe body half the size of a base ball bat, making it a stand alone, off-the-shelf item, at an affordable price, in the range of $6,000 to 20,000. This product will be readily available for mounting on micrometeorological towers or on any flying platform to measure atmospheric turbulence and gas contents as part of environmental research. Such measurements can improve our understanding of the high-wind boundary layer and the exchange of heat, moisture and momentum across the oceanic or terrestrial surface. This equipment may prove valuable in disclosing the fluxes of man-made or natural species like CO2, which are key elements of micro-meteorology. A variation of this probe could be flown into developing tropical storms or hurricanes, to measure wind turbulence, the size and number density of droplets, and the fluxes of momentum, humidity and other thermodynamic quantities.

This is a mature technology (TRL 9) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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