METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION SYSTEM USING VEHICLES

• US 20150061929A1
• Filed: 06/03/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea Institute of Construction Technology
• Original Assignee: Korea Institute of Construction Technology
• Inventors: LIM, Sang Hun, LEE, Dong Ryul
• Granted Patent: US 9,476,977 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/26.R
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/956 mounted on ship or other platform
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a meteorological observation system using vehicles. The meteorological observation system using vehicles includes a meteorological observation device embedded in each of the vehicles and configured to periodically detect surrounding weather information and to photograph weather conditions, the vehicle configured to run on a road using radar devices for detecting the front and right and left sides of the vehicle, that is, sensors for supporting driving and prevent a collision, and to provide mobility to the meteorological observation device, a meteorological server configured to collect pieces of the weather information from the meteorological observation devices moving in respective areas through wireless communication and to provide the pieces of weather information to a meteorological observation center, the meteorological observation center configured to use information, received from the meteorological server, as statistical data or meteorological observation and forecast data.

Claims

1. A meteorological observation system using vehicles, comprising:

a meteorological observation device embedded in each of the vehicles and configured to periodically detect surrounding weather information and to photograph weather conditions;

the vehicle configured to run on a road using radar devices for detecting a front and right and left sides of the vehicle, which are sensors for supporting driving and prevent a collision, and to provide mobility to the meteorological observation device;

a meteorological server configured to collect pieces of the weather information from the meteorological observation devices moving in respective areas through wireless communication and to provide the pieces of weather information to a meteorological observation center;

the meteorological observation center configured to use information, received from the meteorological server, as statistical data or meteorological observation and forecast data,

wherein the meteorological observation device is configured to comprise;

a sensor unit configured to detect temperature, humidity, wind speed, a direction of a wind around the vehicle being driven;

a radar unit configured to output signals of specific frequencies toward the front or right and left sides of the vehicle in order to measure a distance between the vehicle being driven and another vehicle which is driven ahead of the vehicle being driven;

a control unit configured to estimate an amount of rainfall or an amount of snow fall using a loss characteristic of radio waves output by the radar unit;

a photographing unit configured to photograph scenes around the vehicle being driven and to generate an image on which weather conditions of a corresponding area are able to be diagnosed;

a memory unit configured to store the weather information detected by the sensor unit and the control unit and image information provided by the photographing unit; and

a communication unit configured to send the information stored in the memory unit to the meteorological server at a remote place.

2. The meteorological observation system of claim 1, wherein the radar unit comprises:

a first radar unit configured to output a frequency of 77 GHz toward the front of the vehicle; and

second radar units configured to output a frequency of 24 GHz toward the left and right sides of the vehicle.

3. The meteorological observation system of claim 1, wherein the control unit estimates the amount of rainfall using a difference in a degree of attenuation in each of frequencies.

4. The meteorological observation system of claim 3, wherein the frequency is 24 GHz or 77 GHz.

5. A meteorological observation method using vehicles, comprising:

running, by each of the vehicles on each of which an Advanced Vehicle Control Systems (AVCS) is mounted, on a road using radar devices for detecting front and right and left sides of the vehicle in order to support driving and prevent a collision;

periodically detecting, by a meteorological observation device embedded in the vehicle, surrounding weather information and photographing weather conditions;

collecting, by a meteorological server, pieces of weather information and captured images from the meteorological observation devices for the vehicles that are moving in respective areas through wireless communication;

providing the pieces of collected information to a meteorological observation center; and

using, by the meteorological observation center information received from the meteorological server as statistical data or meteorological observation and forecast data,

wherein detecting the surrounding weather information and photographing the weather conditions comprises;

detecting, by a sensor unit, temperature, humidity, wind speed, a direction of a wind around a vehicle being driven;

estimating an amount of rainfall using a loss characteristic of radio wave of a radar unit configured to output signals of specific frequencies toward the front or right and left sides of the vehicle in order to measure the distance between the vehicle being driven and another vehicle which is driven ahead of the vehicle being driven; and

photographing the weather conditions around the vehicle being driven.

6. The meteorological observation method of claim 5, wherein the radar unit comprises:

a first radar unit configured to output a frequency of 77 GHz toward the front of the vehicle; and

second radar units configured to output a frequency of 24 GHz toward the left and right sides of the vehicle.

7. The meteorological observation method of claim 5, wherein estimating the amount of rainfall comprises estimating the amount of rainfall using a difference in a degree of attenuation in each frequency.

8. The meteorological observation method of claim 5, wherein estimating the amount of rainfall comprises estimating the amount of rainfall using a difference in an attenuation between two frequencies having different degrees of attenuation depending on the amount of rainfall.

9. The meteorological observation method of claim 8, wherein estimating the amount of rainfall comprises estimating the amount of rainfall using the difference in the attenuation between frequencies of 24 GHz and 77 GHz having different degrees of attenuation depending on the amount of rainfall in accordance with an equation below.

R=f(A²⁴(r),A⁷⁷(r),Δ

A(r))

wherein, R is the amount of rainfall, f is a function symbol, A²⁴(r) is attenuation per unit length in the frequency of 24 GHz, A⁷⁷(r) is attenuation per unit length in the frequency of 77 GHz, and Δ

A(r) is a difference between A⁷⁷(r) and A²⁴(r) (i.e., A⁷⁷(r)−

A²⁴(r)).

10. The meteorological observation method of claim 5, wherein estimating the amount of rainfall comprises estimating the amount of rainfall using a difference in a degree of attenuation in each of vertical and horizontal polarized waves in a single frequency.

11. The meteorological observation method of claim 10, wherein estimating the amount of rainfall comprises estimating the amount of rainfall using the difference in the degree of attenuation in each of the vertical and horizontal polarized waves in a frequency of 24 GHz or 77 GHz in accordance with an equation below.

R=f(A⁷⁷_h(r),A⁷⁷_v(r),Δ

A⁷⁷_h,v(r))

wherein, A⁷⁷_h(r) is attenuation of the horizontal polarized wave per unit length in the frequency of 77 GHz, A⁷⁷_v(r) is attenuation of the vertical polarized wave per unit length in the frequency of 77 GHz, and Δ

A⁷⁷_h,v(r) is difference between A⁷⁷_h(r) and A⁷⁷_v(r) (i.e., A⁷⁷_h(r)−

A⁷⁷_v(r)).

12. The meteorological observation method of claim 5, wherein estimating the amount of rainfall comprises estimating the amount of rainfall using a difference in an attenuation between two frequencies and a difference in an attenuation in each of vertical and horizontal polarized wave.