UPPER TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE WIND DIRECTION, SPEED, AND TURBIDITY MONITORING USING DIGITAL IMAGING AND MOTION TRACKING
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for monitoring wind direction, speed, and turbidity, the computer implemented method comprising:
- monitoring a portion of visible sky for contrails produced by a high-altitude aircraft;
receiving a set of images of the portion of the visible sky from a set of cameras, wherein the set of cameras is one or more cameras;
identifying a contrail produced by the high-altitude aircraft in at least one image of the set of images;
adjusting a position of the set of cameras to track movement of the contrail across the portion of the visible sky;
generating contrail data based on the set of images, wherein the contrail data describes characteristics of the contrail, wherein the characteristics of the contrail include spread of the contrail and movement of the contrail across a field of view of the set of cameras;
identifying coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft; and
identifying wind conditions using results of a comparison of the contrail data and the coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for monitoring wind direction, speed, and turbidity. The visible sky is monitored by a set of cameras for contrails produced by a high-altitude aircraft. In response to identifying a contrail, the contrail is tracked across the field of view of the camera. Contrail data generated when the contrail is identified and during the tracking of the contrail is stored. The contrail data describes characteristics of the contrail including the spread of the contrail and the movement of the contrail across the field of view of the camera. Coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft are determined and compared with the contrail data to identify wind conditions.
10 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for monitoring wind direction, speed, and turbidity, the computer implemented method comprising:
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monitoring a portion of visible sky for contrails produced by a high-altitude aircraft; receiving a set of images of the portion of the visible sky from a set of cameras, wherein the set of cameras is one or more cameras; identifying a contrail produced by the high-altitude aircraft in at least one image of the set of images; adjusting a position of the set of cameras to track movement of the contrail across the portion of the visible sky; generating contrail data based on the set of images, wherein the contrail data describes characteristics of the contrail, wherein the characteristics of the contrail include spread of the contrail and movement of the contrail across a field of view of the set of cameras; identifying coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft; and identifying wind conditions using results of a comparison of the contrail data and the coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer program product for monitoring wind direction, speed, and turbidity, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer readable medium including computer usable program code for monitoring visible sky for contrails produced by a high-altitude aircraft, wherein monitoring the visible sky includes using a camera to capture images of the visible sky; computer usable program code for identifying a contrail produced by the high-altitude aircraft; computer usable program code for tracking the contrail across a field of view of the camera; computer usable program code for storing contrail data generated while identifying and tracking the contrail, wherein the contrail data describes characteristics of the contrail, wherein the characteristics of the contrail include spread of the contrail and movement of the contrail across the field of view of the camera; computer usable program code for determining coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft; and computer usable program code for comparing the contrail data and the coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft to determine wind conditions. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for monitoring wind direction, speed, and turbidity, the apparatus comprising:
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a camera; a hemispherical lens; a telephoto lens; a movable platform; and a data processing system, wherein the data processing system executes instructions to monitor a portion of visible sky for contrails produced by a high-altitude aircraft;
receive a set of images of the portion of the visible sky from a set of cameras, identify a contrail produced by the high-altitude aircraft in at least one image of the set of images;
adjust a position of the set of cameras to track movement of the contrail across the portion of the visible sky;
generate contrail data based on the set of images, wherein the contrail data describes characteristics of the contrail, wherein the characteristics of the contrail include spread of the contrail and movement of the contrail across a field of view of the set of cameras;
identify coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft; and
identify wind conditions using results of a comparison of the contrail data and the coordinates of the high-altitude aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification