Wind Measurement Method without Aerodynamics Angles of Attack and Sideslip for Small Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle

A new approach for on-board determination of the wind speed and direction for small unmanned aircraft vehicle is presented. Using the data from the airspeed system (a nose-mounted pitot tube and temperature sensors) and with the coordinate transformation matrix from the attitude determination system, the air speed vector in the geodetic coordinate system can be obtained by establishing equations. Then, together with the velocity of the aircraft from the aircraft navigation system (GPS), it is possible to estimate the wind vector without angles of attack and sideslip and to achieve the low-cost and convenient goal. Results from simulations are presented for verification of the wind measurement method.