MUSAS Facilities
MUSAS UAS platforms and supporting equipment have been deployed in numerous projects around the world for atmospheric research and weather monitoring. MUSAS UAS platforms are comprised of fixed-wing and multirotor copters. Supporting equipment include vehicles for tracking, edge computing and mobile command station. More information of MUSAS UAS platforms and supporting equipment can be found below.
MUSAS UAS Platforms
The RAAVEN is a small fixed-wing UAS designed for atmospheric sampling and profiling in the lower atmosphere. The RAAVEN, developed by CU Boulder’s IRISS and Ritewing RC Groups, collects thermodynamic measurements (pressure, temperature, relative humidity) using two Vaisala RSS 421 and 3D winds using a custom 9-hole wind probe. The RAAVEN can fly up to 2.5 hours when operating from a fixed location and has a range of 100+ km.
The InterMet Systems CopterSonde 3 (CS3) is a multirotor UAS designed for vertical profiles of thermodynamic variables (pressure, temperature, humidity) and 2D winds in the lower troposphere. Minimal flight crew is required due to semi-autonomous operations and small size. Its small size also allow for flight operations in confined areas such as urban and suburban locations in addition to remote areas.
The HELIX is hexacopter UAS, used for land surface characteristics and atmospheric sampling and profiling. The HELIX can be equipped for heavier payloads and has been instrumented with stabilized pyranometers and camera systems for measuring surface properties.
MUSAS Supporting Equipment
MUSAS has two Ford Explorers used for mobile operations. These Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are equipped mobile ground stations to support line of sight operations for the RAAVENs and Super RAAVENs.
Mobile UAS Research Collaboratory (MURC) is a customized Sprinter van with mobile workstations, onboard server for field computing and real-time calculations, and a 50 foot mast with meteorological sensors. The MURC can be used for communications, overseeing flight operations for multiple platforms, high performance computing and/or obtaining additional meteorological measurements.