Abstract
In collaboration with 12 other institutions, the Meteorological Observation Center of the China Meteorological Administration undertook a comprehensive marine observation experiment in the South China Sea using the Yilong-10 high-altitude large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Yilong-10 UAV carried a self-developed dropsonde system and a millimeter-wave cloud radar system. In addition, a solar-powered unmanned surface vessel and two drifting buoys were used. The experiment was further supported by an intelligent, reciprocating horizontal drifting radiosonde system that was deployed from the Sansha Meteorological Observing Station, with the intent of producing a stereoscopic observation over the South China Sea. Comprehensive three-dimensional observations were collected using the system from 31 July to 2 August, 2020. This information was used to investigate the formation and development processes of Typhoon Sinlaku (2020). The data contain measurements of 21 oceanic and meteorological parameters acquired by the five devices, along with video footage from the UAV. The data proved very helpful in determining the actual location and intensity of Typhoon Sinlaku (2020). The experiment demonstrates the feasibility of using a high-altitude, large UAV to fill in the gaps between operational meteorological observations of marine areas and typhoons near China, and marks a milestone for the use of such data for analyzing the structure and impact of a typhoon in the South China Sea. It also demonstrates the potential for establishing operational UAV meteorological observing systems in the future, and the assimilation of such data into numerical weather prediction models.
摘要
中国气象局气象探测中心联合12家单位, 在南海开展了基于高空大型无人机为主的海洋综合观测试验, 试验中使用翼龙-10无人机, 携带自主研发的下投探空系统和毫米波云雷达, 同时在试验海域布设了1艘太阳能无人艇和2个漂流浮标, 在三沙气象站布设智能往返平飘探空, 组成对南海的空天海立体综合观测. 7月31日至8月2日首次对森拉克台风(2020)发生发展过程进行了综合立体观测, 获取了对森拉克台风海空天5种设备的21要素的观测资料, 试验资料对台风的定位、 定强起到到重要的支撑作用, 对分析台风结构及其对南海的影响、 开展数值模式的应用以及未来建立无人机气象观测业务都具有里程碑的意义. 此次试验填补了我国海洋(台风)高空大型无人机为主的综合气象观测的空白.
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Acknowledgements
This project is supported by the Petrel Meteorological Observation Experiment Project of the China Meteorological Administration and the “Adaptive Improvement of New Observation Platform for Typhoon Observation (2018YFC1506401)” of the Ministry of Science and Technology. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the Chengdu Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., Hainan Meteorological Service, and all the other institutions and personnel that participated in this experiment.
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Zhang, X., Li, L., Yang, R. et al. Comprehensive Marine Observing Experiment Based on High-Altitude Large Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (South China Sea Experiment 2020 of the “Petrel Project”). Adv. Atmos. Sci. 38, 531–537 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-0314-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-0314-1
Key words
- high-altitude large UAV
- marine
- typhoon
- unmanned surface vessel
- horizontal drifting radiosonde
- drifting buoy