The CopterSonde is an uncrewed aerial system (UAS) developed at the Univeristy of Oklahoma for the observation of lower atmospheric conditions. Dr. Tony Segales (OU-CIWRO) is the main developer of the system, and continuous to work in the BLISS group as the engineer improving and supporting this system and expanding capaibilities generally. You can read about the detailed technical background of the CopterSonde in Tony’s AMT article and in the US Patent documentation. NOAA/NSSL has supported continued R&D on the platform, leading to a new version of the system — the CopterSonde SWX. See CopterSonde Versions for platform details. The CopterSonde has undergone NOAA Airworthiness tests, and is cleared to fly on NOAA projects. You can check out this story for history and information about the construction of the Coptersonde.
First BVLOS CopterSonde profile.
3D Mesonet operations begin.
PRODIGEE NOAA project ends; LAAIRS NOAA project begins.
SCALES Flight Week 3D mesonet campaign in Oklahoma; SWX-Q flies (OU ops).
CopterSonde 3D patent awarded.
CS-SWX-Q provisional patent filed.
CSWX-Q (CopterSonde SWX-Q) first flight tests.
PRODIGEE NOAA project begins.
OUTFLOW flight campaign in the Great Plains.
PERiLS flight campaign in Mississippi/Arkansas.
TRACER flight campaign in Houston, TX.
PERiLS flight campaign in Mississippi/Arkansas.
Airworthy approved for use in NOAA operations.
CASS dissolved. WxUAS transitions to CIWRO/BLISS, including NSSL collaborators.
CopterSonde 3D patent filed.
COVID-19 shut down deployments. Time to refine and develop the CopterSonde 3D: first prototype system for a 3D Mesonet.
Deployments to KAEFS for winter weather. One of the most impactful datasets to date.
Scoop refined. CopterSonde 2.5 developed and validated.
First appearance of the “scoop” and the wind-vane flight mode. Campaign on Arctic sea ice. Record altitude reached (1.8 km).
NOAA UxS funded/led by NSSL. Octocopter design with sensors aspirated by the propellers. Ultimately did not perform to expectations and was impractical due to its size and weight. Led to Koch et al. 2018.
Center for Autonomous Sensing & Sampling (CASS) was established, leading to the CopterSonde concept.