Estimating mountain wave windspeeds from sailplane flight data

Rick P. Millane; Richard G. Brown; Einar Enevoldson; James E. Murray

doi:10.1117/12.562784

22 October 2004 Estimating mountain wave windspeeds from sailplane flight data

Rick P. Millane, Richard G. Brown, Einar Enevoldson, James E. Murray

Proceedings Volume 5562, Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data III; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.562784
Event: Optical Science and Technology, the SPIE 49th Annual Meeting, 2004, Denver, Colorado, United States

Abstract

Airflow over mountainous terrain can produce atmospheric waves in the lee of the mountains that have large vertical air velocities. These waves are used as sources of lift by sailplane pilots. Methods are developed for inverting flight data of airspeed and GPS-derived position to obtain estimates of the vector windspeed in mountain waves. Data from flight path segments with significantly different ground velocities within a region of constant windspeed give a well-determined solution for the windspeed. The methods are applied to flight data from a Perlan Project flight in lee waves of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

Citation Download Citation

Rick P. Millane, Richard G. Brown, Einar Enevoldson, and James E. Murray "Estimating mountain wave windspeeds from sailplane flight data", Proc. SPIE 5562, Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data III, (22 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.562784

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