INTEGRATING A GROUND WEATHER DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM AND AN AIRBORNE DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM

Abstract

During engine and airfield performance testing it is often necessary to acquire weather data at the airfield where the test is being conducted. The airborne data acquisition system (DAS) acquires data associated with flight parameters. A separate system records airport weather conditions. Many times the separate system is an Automated Terminal Information Service (ATIS) or the ground crew relaying wind speed, wind direction and temperature from a weather station. To improve this system, the weather station is designed to acquire and store the data in memory. Utilizing a second DAS that is remote to the airborne DAS poses several problems. First, it is undesirable to have many different data acquisition systems from which to process data. The problem then develops into one of integrating the ground weather DAS with the existing airborne DAS. Other problems of system integrity, compatibility and FCC licensing exist. Complete system integration while maintaining integrity and compatibility is overcome by controlling signal format, flow and timing and is discussed in detail. Further discussion of the issue of transmission is overcome by a technique called spread-spectrum and is used in accordance with FCC rules and regulations.