System for measuring turbulence remotely

• US 7,880,666 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2009
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Spinelli, Charles B., Tillotson, Brian J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza; Thoams H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Barker; Matthew M
• Application Number:
  US12/499,869
• Publication Number:
  US 20090267826A1
• Time in Patent Office: 572 Days
• Field of Search: 342/26.B, 342/26.A
• US Class Current: 342/26.00B
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 5/001 Full-field flow measurement, e.g. determining flow velocity and direction in a whole region at the same time, flow visualisation
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 5/26 by measuring the direct influence of the streaming fluid on the properties of a detecting optical wave
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/955 mounted on satellite
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/16 Measuring atmospheric potential differences, e.g. due to electrical charges in clouds measuring potentiels in general G01R
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 2001/003 Clear air turbulence detection or forecasting, e.g. for aircrafts
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0091 for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• 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

A system for detecting turbulence along a path that is subject to turbulence. The system may make use of at least one transmitter to transmit electromagnetic (EM) energy along the path and at least one receiver to receive the EM energy. At least one of the transmitter and the receiver moves along the path. The receiver may have an antenna responsive to incident EM energy to produce a received signal, and an input for accepting a velocity signal indicating a velocity that the receiver or the transmitter is moving. The receiver processes the received signal using the velocity signal to remove a shift associated with the received signal because of relative motion between a source of the EM energy and the receiver or transmitter that is moving along the path. Thus, the receiver determines an alteration of the EM energy caused by the turbulence and outputs a signal indicative of the turbulence.

Claims

1. A system for detecting clear air turbulence along a path that is subject to turbulence, the system comprising:

at least one airborne transmitter to transmit electromagnetic energy along the path; and

at least one receiver located on a mobile platform to receive the electromagnetic energy, the mobile platform moving along the path;

the receiver including;

an antenna responsive to incident electromagnetic energy to produce a received signal;

a first input to accept a velocity signal that is representative of a velocity at which the one of the receiver and the transmitter is moving along the path, a second input to accept a rotational velocity signal indicative of rotational motion of the antenna caused by a corresponding rotational motion of the mobile platform, the receiver adapted to process the received signal using the velocity signal and the rotational velocity signal to remove a shift associated with the received signal because of relative motion between a source of the electromagnetic energy and the mobile platform that is moving along the path, so that the receiver determines an alteration of the electromagnetic energy caused by the turbulence along a path looking toward the source of the electromagnetic signal; and

the receiver is adapted to output a signal that is representative of the turbulence.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is located on a mobile platform comprising one of an aircraft, a satellite, a land vehicle and a marine vehicle.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a processor to receive the output signal and to create a three dimensional model of the turbulence using the output signal.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the three dimensional model is a tomographic model.

5. The system according to claim 3, further comprising a network in communication with the processor, the processor adapted to distribute the three dimensional model of the turbulence via the network.

6. The system according to claim 5, the network further comprising a subscribe-publisher architecture.

7. The system according to claim 5, further comprising an air traffic control system in communication with the network.

8. The system according to claim 3, wherein the processor determines a statistical confidence interval associated with the three dimensional model;

and

the system further including at least one meteorological sensor communicating with the processor, the processor adapted to determine a meteorological prediction based on a condition sensed by the sensor and to augment the three dimensional model of the turbulence with the meteorological prediction.

9. The system according to claim 3, further comprising at least one meteorological model accessible by the processor, the processor to determine a meteorological prediction based on the model and to augment the three dimensional model of the turbulence with the meteorological prediction.

10. The system according to claim 3, wherein the mobile platform further includes at least one of an air data sensor or an inertial sensor, the at least one sensor in communication with the processor and to generate an additional signal, the processor using the additional signal to augment the three dimensional model of the turbulence.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

the at least one mobile platform includes at least one of a ground vehicle or a marine vehicle.

12. A system for detecting clear air turbulence along a path being traveled by a mobile platform, the system comprising:

at least one transmitter to transmit electromagnetic energy along the path; and

at least one receiver located on the mobile platform to receive the electromagnetic energy as the mobile platform travels along the path;

the receiver including;

an antenna responsive to incident electromagnetic energy to produce a received signal;

a first input to accept a velocity signal that is representative of a velocity at which the one of the receiver and the transmitter is moving along the path, a second input to accept a rotational velocity signal indicative of rotational motion of the antenna caused by a corresponding rotational motion of the mobile platform, the receiver adapted to process the received signal using the velocity signal and the rotational velocity signal to remove a shift associated with the received signal because of relative motion between a source of the electromagnetic energy and the mobile platform that is moving along the path, so that the receiver determines an alteration of the electromagnetic energy caused by the turbulence along the path; and

the receiver is adapted to output a signal that is representative of the turbulence; and

a processor for processing the signal output from the receiver, the processor further considering at least one of a location and an orientation of the antenna on the mobile platform in generating information relating to the turbulence.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the output signal includes a direction associated with the electromagnetic energy, and a time associated with the reception of the electromagnetic energy.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the processor receives the output signal and creates a three dimensional model of the turbulence from the output signal, and wherein the three dimensional model is a tomographic model.

15. The system according to claim 14, further comprising a network in communication with the processor, the processor to distribute the three dimensional model of the turbulence via the network.

16. The system according to claim 13, wherein the processor creates a three dimensional model of the turbulence using the output signal.

17. A system for detecting turbulence along a path being traveled by a mobile platform, the system comprising:

at least one transmitter to transmit electromagnetic energy along the path; and

at least one receiver located on the mobile platform to receive the electromagnetic energy as the mobile platform travels along the path;

the receiver including;

an antenna responsive to incident electromagnetic energy to produce a received signal;

an input to accept a velocity signal that is representative of a velocity at which the one of the receiver and the transmitter is moving along the path, the receiver adapted to process the received signal using the velocity signal to remove a shift associated with the received signal because of relative motion between a source of the electromagnetic energy and the mobile platform that is moving along the path, so that the receiver determines an alteration of the electromagnetic energy caused by the turbulence;

the receiver adapted to output a signal that is representative of the turbulence; and

a processor to receive the output signal and to create a three dimensional model of the turbulence using the output signal.

18. The system according to claim 17, further comprising the antenna being a first antenna, the received signal being a first received signal, the receiver including a second antenna, the receiver and the first antenna and the second antenna to be on the mobile platform, the path being between the transmitter and the first antenna and being a first path, a second path being between the second antenna and the transmitter, the first antenna and the second antenna in communication with the at least one receiver, the second antenna being responsive to incident electromagnetic energy to produce a second received signal, the receiver to process the second received signal using the velocity signal to remove a shift associated with the second received signal because of relative velocity between the source of the electromagnetic energy and the receiver, the receiver thereby determining a second alteration of the electromagnetic energy caused by the turbulence.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein:

the circuit is adapted to correlate the first alteration of the electromagnetic energy and the second alteration of the electromagnetic energy;

the first antenna and the second antenna are spaced apart by a distance; and

the circuit is adapted to further correlate the first alteration of the electromagnetic energy and the second alteration of the electromagnetic energy using a time period defined by the distance and the velocity of the mobile platform.