Hyperlocal Weather Information for Drone Operations

This paper is focused on hyperlocal weather information at low altitudes (up to 150 m). Hyperlocal weather forecast is a new generation of weather prediction models designed to better represent the atmosphere and mechanics that drive high-impact weather events. It provides forecasters more detailed, short-term information about a quickly developing small-scale meteorological events by combining higher detail, more frequent radar input and an advanced representation of all meteorological parameters. Briefly summarized, the meaning of hyperlocal weather refers to providing accurate weather forecasts tailored to specific locations. The goal of this research is to detect the main information gap in current meteorological services from the drone user's point of view (based on the questionnaire “Voice of the Customer”) and to verify the real accuracy of available weather forecast data. The analysis was focused on Central Europe, specifically the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and Poland. Subsequently, a market survey of current meteorological service providers and their compliance with drone operations was conducted. The most suitable candidate (Meteomatics) was selected, and the provided forecasted data was compared with the directly measured data (using two sensors integrated on the drone) to precisely define the deviations. Measured and compared parameters were temperature and barometric pressure. The demonstration mission consisted of 32 flights that were carried out in the city of Rzeszow (Poland). Deviation of both measured parameters for individual flight days are expressed numerically in the experimental results tables. The analyzed parameters demonstrate sufficient accuracy for unmanned aircraft. During the survey of gaps in meteorological information and the summary overview of the current meteorological service, missing parameters that are necessary for safe traffic were observed, and the solution to this problem will be the topic of the second stage of this research.