A simple and inexpensive system to provide real-time
observations and very short-term forecasts for the boundary layer
micro-meteorology of a small flying field
Obvious challenges
Wind direction and speed measurements need to be adaptively
filtered. Variable-length running averages will probably be
sufficient, but the heuristic for adapting the length of the filters
will have to take into account the types of sensors used and the
gustiness of the wind at any given time.
Local turbulence effects seem hard to model. The simple
solution here is to pick a field with enough flat area to avoid
dealing with this too much.
User interface -- how should the data be presented to the users?
I forsee a physical interface that can be seen at a good distance
and at a glance that gives users an idea of the probable direction,
strength, and distance of the nearest bubble.
Prior work I have links/references to:
Tony Estep's article on Seeing Thermals
proposes a novel system and goes through much of the design work
Staffan Kjerrström's thermal computer pages are well worth the read. He describes the implementation of a microcontroller-based system that basically auto-pilots a glider in to rising air and does the right thing to keep it up
