A precise altitude difference measurement system for terrain mapping: And application in a ducted-fan powered airplane

This article describes the assembly and performance of a differential pressure measurement system adapted to provide information about altitude difference. The system is being tested in different conditions and it is adapted for position angles measurement in a ducted fan-powered airplane. The main contribution of the article is a comparison of characteristics of pressure sensors suitable for differential measurement and consequently for altitude difference measurements. The proposed applications are precise large-scale terrain mapping and this article describes its usage on relatively small area given by size of the airplane that is flying at speeds higher than 100 km/h. The airplane design considerations are made to accommodate the proposed measurement system, which uses properties of standard atmosphere to determine the roll angle and the pitch angle of the airplane. We describe the details of the airplane that are necessary for the installation of the measurement system. The application on the airplane requires high precision sensors and installation. We describe the proposed principle of measurement as well as the data analysis and its performance under different conditions. These conditions include laboratory setup, UAV flight, an installation on a Cessna airplane, a stratospheric balloon and usage on a prototype of ducted fan powered airplane.