STRINQS

Project: STRINQS
Section	ARS
Status	on-going
Start Date	2024-07-01
End Date	2028-06-30
Principal Investigator:	User:Geet George
Short Description	4 meteorological quadcopter drones for boundary layer measurements

Project Participants

Geet George,Owen O'Driscoll,Rob Mackenzie

Introduction

STRINQS logo

STRINQS stands for Soundings and TuRbulent eddy measurements in the ITCZ with a Network of QuadcopterS and is one of the campaigns under the umbrella of ORCESTRA, an international collaboration of measurement campaigns with the larger goal of understanding mesoscale organization of convection in the tropical Atlantic.

STRINQS will investigate the mesoscale structure of the ITCZ and the role of boundary-layer processes in organizing its structure by employing four meteorological drones. Co-ordinated drone flights will be conducted with RV Meteor as the base.

Objective

The objective is to perform simultaneous but spatially separated soundings and leverage the capability of arrayed drones in order to derive area-averaged mesoscale vertical velocity. The drones will also provide high-resolution atmospheric soundings of temperature, humidity, pressure, and 3D winds up to a height of 1.5 km.

One of the birds in flight

These measurements will be used to understand the variability of turbulent fluxes within and above the mixed layer, of updrafts and downdrafts as well as of cold-pools. This understanding will quantify the role played by these sub-mesoscale processes in the boundary layer in determining the mesoscale structure of the Atlantic ITCZ. Along with synergies with other sub-campaigns during ORCESTRA, STRINQS will provide measurements that will help to:

1. Distinguish boundary-layer features between the doldrums and the convergence bands
2. Investigate the relationship between up/downdrafts and boundary-layer features and
3. Understand the role of cold-pools in regulating the organization of convection.

The Birds

STRINQS has a fleet of 4 drones, more commonly referred to as our flock of 4 birds. They are

• Red Kite
• Bluebird
• Green Jay
• Yellow canary

All four birds are Metsprite drones manufactured by Menapia Ltd.

Acknowledgement

The infrastructure in the STRINQS project (file number OCENW.M.23.084) is financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) under the grant Open Competition Domain Science - M.