How wind can effect the sUAS operation
Jan 23, 2018
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How wind can effect the sUAS operation
Effects of Wind on sUAS Effect of Obstructions on Wind Another atmospheric hazard exists that can create problems for pilots.
This goes back to doesn’t matter, across the board, unmanned pilot, private pilot, wind is something you have to understand. You have to know about it to keep yourself out of trouble. You don’t want to lose your unmanned aircraft.
You don’t want to cause problems with damage to persons or property on the surface. So we are going to go through winds. Obstructions on the ground affect the flow of wind and can be an unseen danger.
How wind can effect the sUAS operation
Ground topography and large buildings can break up the flow of the wind and create wind gusts that change rapidly in direction and speed. These obstructions range from man-made structures, like hangers to large natural obstructions, such as mountains, bluffs, or canyons.
The intensity of the turbulence associated with ground obstructions depends on the obstacle and the primary velocity of the wind. This can affect the performance of any aircraft and can present a very serious hazard.
Mountain Regions While the wind flows smoothly up the windward side of the mountain and the upward currents help to carry an aircraft over the peak of the mountain, the wind on the leeward side does not act in a similar manner. As the air flows down the leeward side of the mountain, the air follows the contour of the terrain and is increasingly turbulent.
This tends to push an aircraft into the side of the mountain. The stronger the wind, the greater the downward pressure and turbulence become. Low-Level Wind Shear You don’t want to be anywhere out flying if there is a chance of wind shear because it’s going to knock your aircraft right out of the sky and probably destroy it.
Wind shear is a sudden, drastic change in wind speed and/or direction over a very small area. Wind shear can subject an aircraft to violent updrafts and downdrafts, as well as abrupt changes to the horizontal movement of the aircraft.
While wind shear can occur at any altitude, low-level wind shear is especially hazardous due to the proximity of an aircraft to the ground. Low-level wind shear is commonly associated with passing frontal systems, thunderstorms, temperature inversions, and strong upper-level winds greater than 25 knots.
How wind can effect the sUAS operation
Wind shear is dangerous to aircraft. It can rapidly change the performance of the aircraft and disrupt the normal flight altitude. For example, a tailwind quickly changing to a headwind causes an increase in airspeed and performance.
A headwind changing to a tailwind causes a decrease in airspeed and performance. In either case, a pilot must be prepared to react immediately to these changes to maintain control of the aircraft.
The most severe type of low-level wind shear, a microburst, is associated with convective precipitation into dry air at a cloud base. You saw earlier in the weather presentation where we talked about microbursts, thunderstorms, and wind shear. This is what we’re talking about.
Microburst activity may be indicated by an intense rain shaft at the surface, but virga at cloud base, and a ring of blowing dust is often the only visible clue. A typical microburst has a horizontal diameter of 1 to 2 miles and a nominal depth of 1,000 feet.
The lifespan of a microburst is about 5 to 15 minutes, during which time it can produce downdrafts of up to 6,000 feet per minute and headwind losses of 30 to 90 knots, seriously degrading performance. It can also produce strong turbulence and hazardous wind direction changes.
During an inadvertent microburst encounter, the small unmanned aircraft may first experience a performance-increasing headwind, followed by performance-decreasing downdrafts, followed by a rapidly increasing tailwind. This can result in terrain impact or flight dangerously close to the ground.
An encounter during approach involves the same sequence of wind changes and could force the small unmanned aircraft to the ground short of the intended landing area. It is important to remember that wind shear can affect any flight at any altitude.
While wind shear may be reported, it often remains undetected and is a silent danger to aviation. Always be alert to the possibility of wind shear, especially when flying in and around thunderstorms and frontal systems.
Hopefully going through that can help you see why it’s important to do the pre-flight briefings with the weather because wind shear, microbursts, and thunderstorms can all get you into trouble and, in the end, could cause an accident with your unmanned aircraft.
How wind can effect the sUAS operation
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Gary Cleveland, Chief Pilot
FAA Safety Representatives
574-767-1797
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