BLISS team members lead parts of the PERiLS project

A team led by Dr. Elizabeth Smith, Dr. Tyler Bell, and Engineer Tony Segales are successfully deploying the Coptersonde platform at 3 locations in Mississippi as part of the PERiLS project. The Coptersonde is cleared to fly from the surface to 5000 feet for this project, day or night. This is a big leap for NOAA-related UAS operations. Two of the three sites are co-located with a CLAMPS platform. By coupling state-of-the-art ground-based profilers with novel uncrewed aircraft system platforms we strive to explore new methods of measuring properties critical to high-impact and life-threatening weather conditions in the southeastern United States: low-level wind shear, low-level thermodynamics, horizontal moisture flux or advection, buoyancy, turbulence properties, and more.

Dr. Melissa Wagner continues her damage assessment project with the PERiLS project. As each IOP concludes, Dr. Wagner and her crews use information and high-resolution data collected by PERiLS teams to target possible tornadic activity for aerial survey using multi-spectral imagers.

The BLISS team is excited to be leading UAS efforts in this NOAA-NSF project.