Analysis of Stratospheric Airship Endurance Strategy

This study proposes an endurance strategy for stratospheric airships. First, the energy model of stratospheric airship is proposed including radiation, propulsion, and photovoltaic array models. Considering the energy deficit of airships during the nighttime, a position potential strategy is proposed and an optimization process is carried out to achieve a larger position potential for airships in the daytime. The result shows an obvious improvement on the airship endurance compared with that using the traditional station-keeping strategy. In addition, the local wind, latitudes and dates have greatly influence on the position potential. The results and conclusions of this study would provide an effective reference to improve the endurance of stratospheric airships.