Design of an Unmanned Return Module for the Conditions of Stratospheric Phenomena Measurements
Creators: name:  PAVOL PECHO 
name:   RAFFAELLO MARIANI 
name:   MARTIN BUGAJ 
name:   JAKUB JACKULIA 
Publisher: name: Proceedings of the Aerospace Europe Conference - EUCASS - CEAS - 2023
Year: 2023
Subjects: UAV
WEATHER
BALLOON
GLIDER
STRATOSPHERE
RETURN
MODULE

description: The aerological observations areoneof the key daily routines performed by meteorologists providing the essential meteorological data, such aspressure, temperature, humidity and wind of the upper-air to about 30 kilometres from the surface. The standard procedures arebasedon the single-use probes that aredeployed into the air by aweather balloon which burst at the certain height. Due to drifting during the climbing phase, the balloon is often significantly distant from the initial take-off position. Usually, noeffort is made to search for the probe after the meteorological data has been received and after the balloon has burst. In aworld where the emphasis is placed onsustainability and reuse of components and equipment, the challenge is to ensurethereuseof these probes and avoid environmental pollution asmuchaspossible. The project of the autonomous stratospheric glider aims to design, construction, and experimental verification of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UA V) performing the function of a return module capable of stratospheric flight. The principle of intended flight is the ability to return to the place of take-off, respectively to a specific destination independently. In cooperation with the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, a return module wasmanufactured and adapted based on the required aerodynamic properties. These include the ability of a stable flight at high speed in the stratosphere as well as having a high penetration, due to strong headwinds occurring in the upper layers of the atmosphere. The glider is deployed analogously to aerological probes using a weather balloon. For this reason, the mission time is relatively long, therefore, the research was also focused on testing the resistance of control components to extremely low temperatures. The result of the research is the manufacture of afully functional prototype, which was experimentally tested in harsh conditions with an implemented aerological probe that is commonly used in practice. The results of the research show a comparison of computer simulations versus real wind tunnel tests, which have a very similar course and confirm the hypotheses of the research. The outcome of the research is a comprehensively designed unmanned glider, which is capable of flight both in a thin atmosphere and at low altitudes while maintaining the parameters necessary for a safe and rapid return to the place of launch or other destination within the radius of action. In addition, such return module is not suitable only for meteorological measurements but could be used for any measurements. The main advantage is the exclusion of probes finding process after their launch, as they return to their destination. These are primarily applications where the emphasis is placed on the time to find the probe. The presented research is aimed at identifying the applicability of the given solution, its optimization and proposing a practical implementation for users who do not have experience with the unmanned aerial vehicles at a professional level.