Partner Spotlight
The Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry is bringing much-needed innovation into cities eager for alternative modes of transportation. Rapid delivery, air-taxi services, and drone-based logistic services could revolutionize and modernize the way people move, consume, and live.
Yet, as urban transportation extends into the aerial realm, a significant challenge arises: the weather. Cities across the country sit in highly complex microclimates where weather conditions rapidly evolve depending on the location. A city like Los Angeles, for an example, where variations in elevation, proximity to water, and land type create a diverse microclimate influencing wind patterns, temperature, air density, and visibility in the lower atmosphere—precisely where drones and air taxis operate. Moreover, urban corridors, defined by existing buildings and infrastructure, play a crucial role in affecting wind speed, direction, and vertical displacement.
The complexity of microclimates and urban wind corridors significantly impacts the operability of vehicles designed for vertical take-off and landing, known as eVTOLs. Ensuring the safe and sustainable operation of eVTOLs necessitates a combination of hyper-localized weather models fed by strategically placed weather sensors. This approach creates a data-driven urban weather environment, essential for the successful integration of aerial transportation into our evolving urban landscapes.
Conventional Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) or helicopter operations traditionally rely on weather data obtained from the nearest airport’s weather station and visual approximations of wind speed using devices like wind cones at heliports. However, this method falls short in accurately capturing the intricate micro-scale features present in urban environments. Consequently, the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry necessitates a novel system that prioritizes street-scale data and sophisticated wind/weather modeling. Street-scale data involves strategically placing weather sensors at or near the flight level of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. The data collected by these weather sensors is then incorporated into the wind models, offering the most precise representation of urban wind activity.
DM-AirTech has played a pivotal role in bringing the urban weather network of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry to fruition. The shared aspiration for a dedicated low-altitude weather capability tailored to address urban operational requirements has solidified DM-AirTech and TruWeather as integral industry collaborators. Leveraging their respective strengths, can seamlessly integrate cutting-edge technologies to craft a comprehensive weather monitoring and risk mitigation system. DM-AirTech’s innovative approach to corridor and vertiport operations will offer weather-centric solutions and valuable insights to city planners, AAM companies, drone manufacturers, and Urban Traffic Managers (UTM). TruWeather has positioned itself as a leader in providing solutions for lower-atmospheric data and creating weather decision-support systems for the AAM sector. The combination of these two companies, pooling their technologies and expertise, is unmatched.
DM-AirTech offers a range of products meticulously crafted for the planning phase of the Advanced Air Mobility industry. Taking a proactive approach to analyze flight operations before they unfold is key to paving the way for the industry’s future success. One such product is VertiPlace, a software designed to analyze aircraft and vertiport operability based on factors like aircraft type, target place of operations, and local weather conditions. WeTwin, another service provided by DM-AirTech, builds digital twins of weather in complex environments to help vertiport planners and operators to visualize test and refine the ConOps with respect to the intricacies of local weather, wind, and turbulence. The Corridor product analyzes and optimizes aerial mobility networks and by and aerial connections between vertiports, incorporating statistical weather analysis and aircraft type. Lastly, VertiMonitor serves as a real-time decision-making interface for operations, employing weather sensors and computational physical models to establish a Go/No-Go process.
Addressing the complexities of establishing a weather infrastructure conducive to the thriving Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry in urban settings requires collaborative efforts from multiple stakeholders. DM-AirTech, in this endeavor, has introduced a cutting-edge risk analysis toolset capable of assessing the impact of weather on AAM operations in urban environments. Their toolset excels in reconstructing intricate wind patterns and conducting evaluations for various aircraft types, optimizing their potential flight routes.
TruWeather Solutions proudly aligns itself as a partner with DM-AirTech, a company that exhibits profound passion and commitment to the advancement of aerospace flight and safety for the next generation. The establishment of an urban weather network not only facilitates safe but also efficient AAM flight, enabling us to truly champion the skies with confidence.
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