SBIR-STTR Award

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations and airspace management depend on accurate weather data for safe, sustainable, affordable and accessible services. Accurate urban weather data requires a robust, autonomous and reliable sensing and data processing system capable of detecting and communicating weather hazards in near-real time. TruWeather Solutions (TWS) is addressing wind challenges that impact small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) airframes. TWS seeks to underpin an aviation metropolitan based weather sensing and prototype testbed architecture resulting in a Wind Hazard Impact Location Service (WHILS) to better characterize wind impacts for operators and airspace managers. WHILS will integrate into our In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (ISSA) platform, TruFlite V360. WHILS will inform when and where it is safe to fly, and which corridors and vertiports will provide the safest route(s) of transit and locations for terminal operations. This project will focus on low-altitude, urban environments to accelerate deployment of a robust urban wind sensing platform scalable to any urban area in the world. We will develop our urban wind hazard framework with the goal of a proof-of-concept demonstration in Phase 2 that will highlight wind and wind shear “hotspots” of all types. We will quantify the potential impact of sensor fusion and the collected data on wind predictions using simulated observations. We will assess the influence of this service on selecting optimal routes using our route optimization capability RouteCast. Our vision is to enhance TruFlite V360 with a low altitude urban weather model capable of detecting and predicting urban wind “hot spots” and hazards to avoid. This initial model will accelerate commercialization of an important data set to keep airframes and people safe as we test, demonstrate, and deploy initial UAS operations in urban environments in order to reach UAM Maturity Level-4. Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words): This initiative enables NASA applications that depend on highly reliable and persistent non-government space, atmospheric and terrestrial measurements and predictions: Commercial space launches and human space travel ATM / UAS / UTM / UAM Systems, Industries, and Projects Satellite and communication systems UAS and UAM is a “blue sky” mission area to demonstrate how weather monitoring systems, especially in urban areas, can reduce the impact of hazardous events to mission critical operations. Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words): Our applications for this technology extend to FAA and commercial endeavors of the same mission areas that NASA is working in, namely, commercial space launches and human space travel, ATM / UAS / UTM / UAM, satellite and communication systems. We are also looking at how cities can use urban micro weather data as part of Smart City initiatives by deploying weather sensing platforms. Duration: 6

The TruWeather Solutions team is proposing to develop a suite of innovative services to increase the reliability, robustness, and usability of urban weather data. Phase I focused on the design of the Urban Weather EXperiment (UWEX), finding the best urban area with plans for flight tests and high commercial opportunities, searching for sensing solutions and their optimal locations, assessing the potential impact of their observations on predictions and mission planning. The UWEX multi-sensor campaign that will be carried out in Phase II will include spinning lidars, x-band radar and anemometers. We focused this effort on low altitude, urban environments where a significant observation gap remains and that have specific complex micro-weather challenges to enable routine UAS operations. In Phase II, we are proposing to deploy the sensors, validate their data and develop a set of services that will support decision-making tools for UAS operators and navigators. These services will be scalable across multiple urban domains worldwide. Once the sensors are deployed and the data validated. This data will be unique and valuable dataset for robust model evaluation and validation. Besides, this data will be the basis of real-time and predictive wind and ceiling products. Moreover, these products will undergo testing by operators through real urban flight testing and third party testing to demonstrate to AAM stakeholders and clients the reliability and scalability of these solutions. Phase II will also focus on how weather contributes to a UAS operation risk assessment for both strategic and tactical planning. Since the future weather data and predictions sent to users rely on accurate and reliable wind sensor, verifying the validity of the wind sensor input data will enable trust of the output data created by TruWeather Solutions and its partners. Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words): NASA will find this effort useful in the National Campaign effort around Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) and in conducting planned High Density Vertiport testing and demonstrations in the Hampton Roads region. As NASA look at vertiport locations and urban flight routes, it will be crucial how different sensors can contribute to a reliable UTM ecosystem. Additionally, capabilities developed will directly contribute to NASA System Wide Safety Team mission to enable In-time system-wide safety assurance (ISSA) capabilities within the AAM ecosystem. Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words): There is a push for “Smart Cities” initiatives in the US right now. Our sensing, modeling solutions and services fits perfectly into this concept. We can provide a scalable solution for domain-specific applications to understand what capabilities and regions are impacted by adverse or off-nominal weather conditions detected within the ecosystem. Duration: 24