Flying body, observation system, observation method, and program

Abstract

The present invention is provided with: an upper-air observation sensor (11) that observes upper atmospheric weather data; an LPWA reception unit (16) that receives ground-level weather data transmitted by LPWA communication from an observation device (2) installed on the ground; a communication unit (15) that communicates with a reception station (3); and a control unit (17) that performs control of transmitting the upper atmospheric weather data and the ground-level weather data from the communication unit (15) to the reception station (3).

Description

Aircraft, observation system, observation method, and program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an aircraft, an observation system, an observation method, and a program.

[0002] Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for observing meteorological data such as wind speed, wind direction, and air pressure using a radiosonde (aircraft). The radiosonde is equipped with a sensor for observing meteorological data and a radio for transmitting the data. A rubber balloon is attached to the radiosonde, and meteorological data in the air can be observed by flying the radiosonde over land or sea using the rubber balloon. For example, meteorological data such as wind speed, wind direction, and air pressure can be observed within a range of 30 km altitude and 300 km horizontal distance, and the observed meteorological data can be transmitted to a receiving station.

[0003] Meanwhile, meteorological data such as wind speed, wind direction, and atmospheric pressure are observed over a wide range of land and sea surfaces (hereinafter collectively referred to as "surface"). For example, multiple observation devices are installed on the sea surface, and meteorological data observed by each observation device is transmitted to a receiving station installed on land or a ship using a low power wide area (LPWA) communication module disclosed in Non-Patent Document 2, for example.

[0004] The LPWA communication module has the advantage of consuming very little power and, depending on the conditions, being capable of communication over horizontal distances of up to 500 km, enabling observation over a wide area for long periods of time.

[0005] Meisei Electric, GPS radiosonde; https: / / www.meisei.co.jp / products / meteo / meteo_high_ground / p578 RL Link, communication module; http: / / www.rflink.co.jp / lev2-seihin-920.html

[0006] The radiosonde disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 observes meteorological data in the sky by flying it in the sky, so it is difficult to observe meteorological data on the ground. Also, as mentioned above, when the horizontal distance of the radiosonde exceeds 300 km, wireless communication to the receiving station becomes difficult. Therefore, even if meteorological data is observed on the ground, it is difficult to observe and transmit meteorological data on the ground over a wide area, for example, about 500 km, to the receiving station.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an aircraft, observation system, observation method, and program capable of observing meteorological data in the sky and meteorological data on the ground over a wide area.

[0008] An aircraft of one embodiment of the present disclosure is an aircraft that flies in the sky and is equipped with an air observation sensor that observes air weather data, an LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) receiving unit that receives surface weather data transmitted from an observation device installed on the ground via LPWA communication, a communication unit that communicates with a receiving station, and a control unit that controls the transmission of the air weather data and the surface weather data to the receiving station via the communication unit.

[0009] An observation system of one embodiment of the present disclosure is an observation system comprising an aircraft flying in the sky and an observation device installed on the ground, wherein the observation device comprises a surface observation sensor that observes surface weather data and an LPWA transmitter that transmits the surface weather data to the aircraft via LPWA communication, and the aircraft comprises an air observation sensor that observes upper air weather data, an LPWA receiver that receives the surface weather data, a communication unit that communicates with a receiving station, and a control unit that controls the transmission of the upper air weather data and the surface weather data to the receiving station via the communication unit.

[0010] An observation method of one aspect of the present disclosure observes aerial meteorological data using an aerial observation sensor installed on an aircraft, observes surface meteorological data using a ground observation sensor installed on the ground, an observation device installed on the ground transmits the surface meteorological data to the aircraft via LPWA communication, and the aircraft transmits the aerial meteorological data and the surface meteorological data to a receiving station.

[0011] One aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to function as the LPWA receiving unit, communication unit, and control unit of the above-mentioned aircraft.

[0012] According to the present disclosure, it becomes possible to observe meteorological data in the sky and meteorological data on the ground over a wide area.

[0013] Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an observation system according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the observation system according to an embodiment. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the observation system according to an embodiment. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of this embodiment.

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings: Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an observation system according to an embodiment, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the observation system according to an embodiment.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1 , an observation system 100 according to an embodiment includes an aircraft 1 and multiple (four in the figure) observation devices 2. The aircraft 1 is, for example, a radiosonde, and includes a housing 1A and a balloon 1B. The balloon 1B is, for example, a rubber balloon filled with hydrogen gas or helium gas. The housing 1A is connected to the balloon 1B and flies from land or sea surface (hereinafter, collectively referred to as the "earth's surface") into the sky. That is, the aircraft 1 flies in the sky using the balloon 1B connected to the housing 1A. The aircraft 1 flies to an altitude of, for example, about 30 km. As the balloon 1B rises, it expands due to a decrease in air pressure, and finally bursts. The aircraft 1 slowly descends to the earth's surface, for example, by parachute.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, multiple observation devices 2 are installed on the Earth's surface. The observation devices 2 are installed, for example, at regular intervals over a range of 500 km horizontally. Although Fig. 1 shows an example in which the observation devices 2 are installed on the sea surface, they may also be installed on land.

[0017] 2, a control device 10 is installed in the housing 1A of the aircraft 1. The control device 10 includes an air observation sensor 11, a GPS receiver 12, an altimeter 13, a memory unit 14, a communication unit 15, a control unit 17, and an LPWA receiving unit 16.

[0018] The upper air observation sensor 11 observes meteorological data in the upper air, such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure (hereinafter referred to as "upper air weather data"). The upper air observation sensor 11 outputs the observed upper air weather data to the control unit 17. Note that the upper air observation sensor 11 may observe at least one selected from the above-mentioned wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure. In other words, the upper air observation sensor 11 may include at least one selected from a wind vane, an anemometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer, and a barometer.

[0019] The GPS receiver 12 receives position data transmitted from a GPS satellite and outputs the received position data to the control unit 17.

[0020] The altimeter 13 measures altitude data of the flying object 1. The altimeter 13 outputs the measured altitude data to the control unit 17.

[0021] The storage unit 14 stores the atmospheric weather data observed by the atmospheric observation sensor 11 , the position data received by the GPS receiver 12 , and the altitude data measured by the altimeter 13 .

[0022] The LPWA receiver 16 receives surface weather data (details of which will be described later) transmitted by LPWA communication from each observation device 2 installed on the ground surface. The LPWA receiver 16 outputs the received surface weather data to the control unit 17.

[0023] The control unit 17 controls the entire flying object 1. Specifically, the control unit 17 associates the upper air weather data observed by the upper air observation sensor 11, the position data received by the GPS receiver 12, and the altitude data measured by the altimeter 13 and stores them in the memory unit 14. The control unit 17 stores the ground weather data of each observation device 2 received by the LPWA receiving unit 16 in the memory unit 14. The control unit 17 outputs the upper air weather data and ground weather data stored in the memory unit 14 to the communication unit 15, for example, at predetermined time intervals or each time the flying object 1 reaches a predetermined altitude. The control unit 17 functions as a control unit that transmits the upper air weather data and ground weather data from the communication unit 15 to the receiving station 3.

[0024] The communication unit 15 communicates with the receiving station 3 installed on land or a ship. The communication unit 15 transmits the aerial meteorological data and the ground meteorological data to the receiving station 3 using, for example, RF (Radio Frequency) waves. As an example of RF communication, it is preferable to use RF waves with a frequency of 400 to 406 MHz.

[0025] The observation device 2 includes a surface observation sensor 21, a memory unit 22, an LPWA transmission unit 23, and a processing unit 24. Note that only one of the multiple observation devices 2 is shown in FIG.

[0026] The surface observation sensor 21 observes meteorological data (surface meteorological data) such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure on the surface of the earth (land and sea surface). The surface observation sensor 21 outputs the observed surface meteorological data to the processing unit 24. The surface observation sensor 21 may observe at least one selected from the above-mentioned wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure. That is, the surface observation sensor 21 may include at least one selected from an anemometer, a wind vane, a thermometer, a hygrometer, and a barometer.

[0027] The storage unit 22 stores the surface weather data observed by the surface observation sensor 21 .

[0028] The processing unit 24 controls the entire observation device 2. Specifically, the processing unit 24 stores the surface weather data observed by the surface observation sensor 21 in the memory unit 22. The processing unit 24 outputs the surface weather data stored in the memory unit 22 to the LPWA transmission unit 23.

[0029] The LPWA transmitter 23 transmits the surface weather data to the flying object 1 via LPWA communication.

[0030] Next, the operation of the observation system 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0031] 3 , the surface observation sensor 21 of each observation device 2 observes surface meteorological data. Specifically, the surface observation sensor 21 observes surface meteorological data such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure at the location where the observation device 2 is installed (e.g., sea surface). The observed surface meteorological data is stored in the memory unit 22.

[0032] A user fills the balloon 1B shown in FIG. 1 with hydrogen gas, helium gas, or the like, connects the balloon 1B to the housing 1A, and releases it into the sky.

[0033] In step S12, the air observation sensor 11 mounted on the aircraft 1 observes air weather data. Specifically, the air observation sensor 11 observes air weather data such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure around the aircraft 1. Furthermore, the GPS receiver 12 acquires position data of the aircraft 1, and the altimeter 13 measures the current altitude of the aircraft 1. Each of these data is stored in the memory unit 14.

[0034] In step S13, the LPWA transmitter 23 of each observation device 2 transmits the surface weather data stored in the memory 22 to the aircraft 1 via LPWA communication. The LPWA receiver 16 of the aircraft 1 receives the surface weather data transmitted from each observation device 2. The control unit 17 stores the received surface weather data in the memory 14.

[0035] As described above, communication between each observation device 2 and the aircraft 1 uses LPWA communication, so it is possible to receive surface weather data transmitted from observation devices 2 installed over a wide range, with a horizontal distance of approximately 500 km.

[0036] In step S14, the control unit 17 of the aircraft 1 determines whether or not the LPWA receiving unit 16 has received the surface weather data transmitted from all of the observation devices 2. If all of the surface weather data has been received (S14; YES), the process proceeds to step S15; otherwise (S14; NO), the process returns to step S13.

[0037] In step S15, the control unit 17 transmits the aerial meteorological data, position data, altitude data, and ground surface meteorological data observed by each observation device 2 stored in the memory unit 14 from the communication unit 15 to the receiving station 3. By receiving the above data, the receiving station 3 can acquire the aerial meteorological data and the ground surface meteorological data observed by each observation device 2.

[0038] Thus, the observation system 100 of this embodiment is an observation system 100 that includes an aircraft 1 flying in the sky and an observation device 2 installed on the ground, and the observation device 2 includes a surface observation sensor 21 that observes surface weather data and an LPWA transmitter 23 that transmits the surface weather data to the aircraft 1 via LPWA communication, and the aircraft 1 includes an air observation sensor 11 that observes upper air weather data, an LPWA receiver 16 that receives the surface weather data, a communication unit 15 that communicates with the receiving station 3, and a control unit 17 that controls the transmission of the upper air weather data and surface weather data to the receiving station 3 via the communication unit 15.

[0039] In this embodiment, the surface weather data observed by each observation device 2 is transmitted to the flying object 1 via LPWA communication. LPWA communication allows communication within a horizontal distance of approximately 500 km, so surface weather data can be acquired from observation devices 2 installed over a wide area of ​​500 km. Furthermore, the flying object 1 observes upper air weather data and transmits the upper air weather data and ground observation data to the receiving station 3. Therefore, by using the observation system 100, the receiving station 3 can acquire upper air weather data and surface weather data over a wide area.

[0040] In addition, with conventional radiosondes, the communication distance was approximately 300 km horizontally, making it difficult to communicate at distances greater than this. However, in this embodiment, data is sent and received between the aircraft 1 and each observation device 2 via LPWA communication, making it possible to obtain surface meteorological data over a wide area.

[0041] That is, LPWA communication is useful for long-distance data communication, and communication (e.g., RF communication) by the communication unit 15 of the aircraft is useful for large-volume data communication. By utilizing the advantages of both, this embodiment makes it possible to acquire a wide range of surface weather data and aerial weather data observed by the aircraft 1 through a series of processes.

[0042] The control device 10 of the present embodiment described above may be, for example, a general-purpose computer system including a CPU (Central Processing Unit, processor) 901, a memory 902, a storage 903 (HDD: Hard Disk Drive, SSD: Solid State Drive), a communication device 904, an input device 905, and an output device 906, as shown in Fig. 4. The memory 902 and the storage 903 are storage devices. In this computer system, the CPU 901 executes a predetermined program loaded on the memory 902, thereby realizing each function of the control device 10.

[0043] The control device 10 may be implemented by one computer or by multiple computers, or may be a virtual machine implemented on a computer.

[0044] The program for the control device 10 can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as an HDD, an SSD, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, a Compact Disc (CD), or a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), or can be distributed via a network. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory recording medium.

[0045] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0046] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Aircraft 1A Housing 1B Balloon 2 Observation device 3 Receiving station 10 Control device 11 Air observation sensor 12 GPS receiver 13 Altimeter 14 Memory unit 15 Communication unit 16 LPWA receiving unit 17 Control unit 21 Ground observation sensor 22 Memory unit 23 LPWA transmitting unit 24 Processing unit 100 Observation system

Claims

1. An aircraft flying in the sky, comprising: an upper air observation sensor that observes upper air weather data; an LPWA receiving unit that receives surface weather data transmitted from an observation device installed on the ground via LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) communication; a communication unit that communicates with a receiving station; and a control unit that controls the transmission of the upper air weather data and the surface weather data to the receiving station via the communication unit.

2. The flying object according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit transmits the upper air weather data and the ground surface weather data to the receiving station via RF (Radio Frequency) communication.

3. The flying object according to claim 1 or 2, which is equipped with a balloon and flies in the sky using the balloon.

4. An aircraft as described in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a GPS receiver and an altimeter, wherein the control unit transmits the aircraft's position data received by the GPS receiver and the altitude data measured by the altimeter to the receiving station via the communication unit.

5. An observation system comprising an aircraft flying in the sky and an observation device installed on the ground, wherein the observation device comprises a surface observation sensor that observes surface meteorological data, and an LPWA transmitter that transmits the surface meteorological data to the aircraft via LPWA communication, and the aircraft comprises an upper air observation sensor that observes upper air meteorological data, an LPWA receiver that receives the surface meteorological data, a communication unit that communicates with a receiving station, and a control unit that controls the transmission of the upper air meteorological data and the surface meteorological data to the receiving station via the communication unit.

6. The observation system according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of the observation devices are installed, and the flying object receives surface meteorological data transmitted from the plurality of the observation devices.

7. An observation method comprising: observing upper air meteorological data with an upper air observation sensor mounted on an aircraft; observing surface meteorological data with a ground observation sensor mounted on the ground; an observation device mounted on the ground transmits the surface meteorological data to the aircraft via LPWA communication; and the aircraft transmits the upper air meteorological data and the surface meteorological data to a receiving station.

8. A program that causes a computer to function as the LPWA receiving unit, communication unit, and control unit provided in the aircraft described in claim 1.

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