Document Type
Theses, Masters
Master Thesis
Master thesis
Rights
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence
Disciplines
2.2 ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, INFORMATION ENGINEERING
Abstract
Low level wind shear and turbulence present a serious safety risk to aircraft during the approach, landing and take-off phases. Low level wind shear has been identified as one of the primary factors for aircraft go-arounds and aborted landings. Aviation reports have concluded that pilots need to have improved information in relation to tailwinds, wind shear and wind variations on approach and during the landing phases. The ability for a pilot to land an aircraft safely without the need to go-around or abort a landing due to wind conditions is crucial. During any given year, wind shear occurs thousands of times at airports around the world, affecting the arrival and departure of aircraft. It is therefore vital that the most accurate information is recorded and relayed by the Air traffic controllers to the flight crew. At present wind is measured using anemometers and wind vanes in airport terminal areas. The design of this instrumentation has not changed greatly since its first use in 1846. These instruments are constructed and limited by their design to only measure wind as a two-dimensional entity. Wind blows freely in three dimensional space so three dimensional measurement is required. This thesis will argue that a solution to the problem of forecasting low level wind shear and turbulence for the approach, landing and go-around flight phases for aircraft can be addressed by incorporating the Wind Urchin as part of the Low Level Wind Shear Alerting System in all airports. This thesis will show that wind data taken from the Wind Urchin at a test site at Baldonell Aerodrome measured the vertical wind component, when wind data from existing wind measurement instruments at Baldonell for the same time only recorded the horizontal wind. Initial research produced a wind profile providing greater resolution of the wind data showing when turbulence is high and when it is safe for aircraft to land.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/yw3k-7d27
Recommended Citation
O'Connor, A. (2018) Demonstration of a Novel 3-D Wind Sensor for Improved Wind Shear Detection for Aviation Operations, Thesis submitted to the Technological University Dublin for the degree of Master of Philosophy, November 2018. DOI: 10.21427/yw3k-7d27
Document Type
Master thesis
Publication Details
Thesis submitted to the Technological University Dublin for the degree of Master of Philosophy, November 2018..