Synthetic Wind Estimation for Small Fixed-Wing Drones

Wind estimation is crucial for studying the atmospheric boundary layer. Traditional methods such as weather balloons offer limited in situ capabilities; besides an Air Data System (ADS) combined with inertial measurements and satellite positioning is required to estimate the wind on fixed-wing drones. As pressure probes are an important constituent of an ADS, they are susceptible to malfunctioning or failure due to blockages, thus affecting the capability of wind sensing and possibly the safety of the drone. This paper presents a novel approach, using low-fidelity aerodynamic models of drones to estimate wind synthetically. In our work, the aerodynamic model parameters are derived from post-processed flight data, in contrast to existing approaches that use expensive wind tunnel calibration for identifying the same. In sum, our method integrates aerodynamic force and moment models into a Vehicle Dynamic Model (VDM)-based navigation filter to yield a synthetic wind estimate without relying on an airspeed sensor. We validate our approach using two geometrically distinct drones, each characterized by a unique aerodynamic model and different quality of inertial sensors, altogether tested across several flights. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed cross-platform method provides a synthetic wind velocity estimate, thus offering a practical backup to traditional techniques.