Design and validation of a system for targeted observations of tornadic supercells using unmanned aircraft

This paper presents an aerial robot system designed to perform in situ sampling of supercell thunderstorms, including those that produce tornadoes. A description of the system architecture and concept of operations is given, along with a brief discussion of the evolution of critical system components. Results are given from two field campaigns, an airmass boundary intercept in Northern Colorado during the spring of 2009, and two supercell transects during the Spring 2010 campaign of the VORTEX2 project. The 2010 results represent the first aloft sampling of the rear-flank downdraft in a tornadic supercelluar storm.