Safer flights for drones and small aircrafts: better understanding of icing conditions in clouds

About this project

<p style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">The commercial use of drones is increasing in construction, agriculture, transportation, communication and surveillance, globally. This rise introduces the necessity to operate drones year-round and in an extended range of weather conditions. Heavy precipitation and strong winds are obvious limiting factors for both the operator and the aircraft / drones itself. However, during the winter season the risk assessment of icing conditions is a complex task, especially when the drone operates beyond the line of sight or autonomously. The operation of aircrafts in icing conditions introduces the risk of failure and can result in damage or loss of the aircraft, the freight or in the worst case, damage or injury to third parties’ health or property. The IceSafari project aims to reduce this risk.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">In order to do that, the project will: (i) develop&nbsp;&nbsp;a cluster of sensors called “IceWarn”, to contribute to the safe operation of commercial drones, by avoiding icing conditions, (ii) advance the understanding of mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) through extensive aircraft measurements, which are critical for addressing current shortcomings in the representation of supercooled liquid in numerical weather prediction and climate simulations and (iii) build a sustainable cooperation between Romanian and Norwegian institutions.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif">The value added of the partnership resides from the work performed together in order to develop high quality technology and scientific results at the research frontier. Furthermore, the above activities will l enhance the Romanian participation on the European and international science and innovation arena, through knowledge transfer and future joint activities</span></span></p>

Bilateral cooperation results

lceSafari project aimed to establish, expand, and maintain a long-term partnership between Romanian and Norwegian research and development organizations and academic institutions. The collaborators in this project worked together to produce high-quality technology and scientific results in the field of cloud microphysics. They contributed to educational activities resulting in the training of early career researchers as well as research results that are relevant for current societal needs. These activities not only facilitated advancements in instrumentation and process understanding but also established enduring partnerships based on scientific merit and respect. By leveraging the expertise of the partners in our collaborative research project, we were able to have bidirectional knowledge transfer from the host countries. As a result of this collaborative approach, the lceSafari project was able to obtain its goal of a sustained long­ term partnership as evidenced by the submission of several successful grant proposal for future research projects.

Project partners

• University of Oslo Donor project partner· Norway
• NAROM Andøya Space Centre Donor project partner· Norway
• University of Bucharest Project partner· Romania