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120-X-2 Unmanned Aircraft System-Borne Atmospheric & Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensing

Award Information
Agency: Department of Commerce
Branch: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Contract: WC-133R-14-CN-0071
Agency Tracking Number: 14-1-027
Amount: $94,870.51
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: 8.4
Solicitation Number: NOAA-2014-1
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2014
Award Year: 2014
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2014-08-07
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2015-02-06
Small Business Information
519 W 2nd Street
Essington, PA 19029-1231
United States
DUNS: 002266609
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Brian Geiger
 Senior Flight Controls and UAS Engineer
 (610) 521-5700
 geiger_br@piasecki.com
Business Contact
 John Piasecki
Title: President and CEO
Phone: (610) 521-5700
Email: piasecki_jw@piasecki.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

To capture critical weather and SST data in the Tropical Cyclone Boundary Layer (TCBL), Piasecki Aircraft proposes to evaluate existing meteorological sensor packages, integrate new off-the-shelf MEMS sensors, and design an air-launched UAS to improve the resolution of observations captured in the TCBL. Capturing latent and sensible heat fluxes can be achieved reliably with a powered UAS (compared to a dropsonde) through the ability to revisit a previous flight path and collect a new set of measurements. The challenge of measuring wind vector, latent and sensible heat flux, and SST in the TCBL is approached through the adaptation and improvement of existing methods that have been demonstrated in small scale aboard a UAS by team members. The sensor package and UAS meeting the TCBL observation requirements will be documented, the power and communications links defined, and system cost estimates for prototype and production variants will be produced in Phase I. A specific focus of the Phase I work is to show feasibility of a mass production approach for UAS fabrication such that the resulting system is competitive with existing dropsondes in terms of cost and measurement capabilities.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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