Method and device for detecting air turbulence in the environment of an aircraft
First Claim
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1. A method for detecting air turbulence in the environment of an aircraft, wherein, in the course of a flight of the aircraft, the following series of successive steps is carried out in an automatic and iterative manner;
- A/at any instant ti;
a) measuring, with a measuring device, the current values at said instant ti of the static temperature and of the static pressure, as well as the current values of auxiliary parameters tied to the flight of the aircraft on board the aircraft;
b) calculating a potential temperature θ
i on the basis of said current values of the static temperature and of the static pressure;
c) determining characteristics of the wind;
d) determining on the basis of said characteristics of the wind and of said potential temperature θ
i, an extrapolated height hiE corresponding to the height attained by an isentropic trajectory of potential temperature θ
i, at a subsequent instant ti+1 such that ti+1=ti+Δ
t, Δ
t being a predetermined time interval; and
B/at the instant ti+1;
e) determining the current height hi+1 of the aircraft at this instant ti+1;
f) calculating a theoretical height δ
i+1 corresponding to the difference between said extrapolated height hiE and said current height hi+1;
g) comparing this theoretical height with a height threshold; and
h) emitting, if said theoretical height is below said height threshold, an alert signal signaling the detection of turbulence, wherein;
in step A/d), the following operation is carried out;
extrapolating, with the aid of the current height hi of the aircraft at the instant ti and of the local slope of the wind obtained on the basis of said wind characteristics determined in step A/c), a theoretical profile followed by the isentropic trajectory of potential temperature θ
i; and
the extrapolated height hiE corresponds to the height attained by this theoretical profile at the subsequent instant ti+1.
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Abstract
A device and method for detecting air turbulence determine a theoretical height corresponding to the difference between an extrapolated height of an isentropic trajectory and the current height of an aircraft. This theoretical height is compared with a height threshold indicating a risk of turbulence.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method for detecting air turbulence in the environment of an aircraft, wherein, in the course of a flight of the aircraft, the following series of successive steps is carried out in an automatic and iterative manner;
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A/at any instant ti; a) measuring, with a measuring device, the current values at said instant ti of the static temperature and of the static pressure, as well as the current values of auxiliary parameters tied to the flight of the aircraft on board the aircraft; b) calculating a potential temperature θ
i on the basis of said current values of the static temperature and of the static pressure;c) determining characteristics of the wind; d) determining on the basis of said characteristics of the wind and of said potential temperature θ
i, an extrapolated height hiE corresponding to the height attained by an isentropic trajectory of potential temperature θ
i, at a subsequent instant ti+1 such that ti+1=ti+Δ
t, Δ
t being a predetermined time interval; andB/at the instant ti+1; e) determining the current height hi+1 of the aircraft at this instant ti+1; f) calculating a theoretical height δ
i+1 corresponding to the difference between said extrapolated height hiE and said current height hi+1;g) comparing this theoretical height with a height threshold; and h) emitting, if said theoretical height is below said height threshold, an alert signal signaling the detection of turbulence, wherein; in step A/d), the following operation is carried out;
extrapolating, with the aid of the current height hi of the aircraft at the instant ti and of the local slope of the wind obtained on the basis of said wind characteristics determined in step A/c), a theoretical profile followed by the isentropic trajectory of potential temperature θ
i; andthe extrapolated height hiE corresponds to the height attained by this theoretical profile at the subsequent instant ti+1. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for detecting air turbulence in the environment of an aircraft, wherein, in the course of a flight of the aircraft, the following series of successive steps is carried out in an automatic and iterative manner;
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A/at any instant ti; a) measuring, with a measuring device, the current values at said instant ti of the static temperature and of the static pressure, as well as the current values of auxiliary parameters tied to the flight of the aircraft on board the aircraft; b) calculating a potential temperature θ
i on the basis of said current values of the static temperature and of the static pressure;c) determining characteristics of the wind; d) determining on the basis of said characteristics of the wind and of said potential temperature θ
i, an extrapolated height hiE corresponding to the height attained by an isentropic trajectory of potential temperature θ
i, at a subsequent instant ti+1 such that ti+1=ti+Δ
t, Δ
t being a predetermined time interval; andB/at the instant ti +1; e) determining the current height hi+1 of the aircraft at this instant ti+1; f) calculating a theoretical height δ
i+1 corresponding to the difference between said extrapolated height hiE and said current height hi+1;g) comparing this theoretical height with a height threshold; and h) emitting, if said theoretical height is below said height threshold, an alert signal signaling the detection of turbulence, wherein; upon detection of turbulence, the following series of successive steps is moreover carried out in an automatic manner; the vertical component of the wind existing outside the aircraft at the current position is determined; the vertical component is filtered with respect to predetermined frequencies; the quadratic mean is calculated over a predetermined time window of this filtered vertical component; and a dissipation rate providing an indication as to the level of the turbulence is deduced from this quadratic mean and from a predetermined frequency.
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Specification