PBS Oklahoma News Report: Developing Cutting-Edge Weather Drones
OETA’s Oklahoma News Report aired an in-depth feature on the engineering behind our patented CopterSonde. The segment interviews Dr. Tony Segales and Dr. Elizabeth Smith, highlighting the drone’s unique aspirated sensor design (affectionately dubbed the “Tony Shark” and “Walrus”) and our future vision of a “3D MesoNet” to automate severe weather observations.
Dr. Antonio R. Segales
Research Engineer
My research centers around developing small unmanned aircraft systems for adaptive atmospheric sampling which involves CAD modeling, systems optimization, hardware and software integration, and control theory. I have led the design of the CopterSonde series of vehicles, which is used to perfrom controlled and targeted weather sampling at high temporal and spatial resolutions. I am also advising other projects in which sensor integration or new UAS are required.
Dr. Elizabeth N. Smith
Research Meteorologist
Elizabeth joined NSSL as a research meteorologist in January 2020, where she focuses on boundary-layer processes relevant to near- and pre-storm environments and convection initiation.