Prof’s wind-turbine UAS research

Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University in St. Lucie County, Fla., used a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to study the effects of wind turbines at two Midwestern farmlands. Research found that wind turbines can impact soil, crops and livestock. He and colleague Adrian Sescu, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering at Mississippi State University, published those findings in the International Journal of Green Energy. Farmers can earn extra income by allowing wind turbines to be placed in fields. Based on data collected from the drone, researchers discovered weather conditions and the direction of spinning blades can positively or negatively impact crops, including inhibiting crop disease during wet weather or speeding up moisture loss during droughts. The drone was equipped with GPS and a suite of instruments to capture temperature and relative humidity levels. Most prior research of wind-turbine impacts on near-surface meteorology have been based on computer modeling. The use of the drone “provides proof of concept for a platform that can also be used for the measurement of other atmospheric parameters with high spatial resolution,” the researchers wrote. (Source: UAS Magazine 09/27/17)