Facility Instruments

And Data Systems

Eric Buzay
June 18, 2015

Instrument Selection Process

Integration preparation typically begins months to in advance of the actual

mission campaign
Program manager(s) or other sponsoring agencies are typically interested in
getting the most bang for the buck
Feedback is provided to the sponsoring program manager(s) as to what
combinations of potential instruments can be accommodated on the aircraft and
what combinations result in conflicts, etc.
Most campaigns consist of a combination of heritage instruments, which have
previously flown on the aircraft, and new instruments to the aircraft
Installation requirements of heritage instruments are well-defined
New instrument installations require more preliminary thought and planning as to how
the instrument can fit and function with the rest of the proposed payload

Instrument Floorplan Development

Inlets/exhaust locations
Window locations
Seat locations
Cargo room for aircraft spares, etc.
Choose appropriate existing ports in the aircraft whenever possible
Sometimes perform aircraft mods when absolutely necessary
Utilize existing hardware when applicable and available

Loading Floorplan

Instrument Installation Detail Design

Once a basic instrument floorplan is finalized, detailed design of new instrument

installations begins
Most instruments consist of standard (19 rackmount equipment) and one or more
non-standard installations
Documentation is an integral part of all facets of aircraft operations and the
experimental installation design is no exception
Typical instrument installation documentation requirements

Installation drawings of non-standard installations (i.e., anything besides rackmount

equipment)
Structural analysis of non-standard installations
Modal (vibration) analysis for installations external to the aircraft cabin
Equipment rack loading calculation sheets
Electrical schematics for heater circuits
Flow diagrams for pressurized systems
Batteries/UPS datasheets
MSDSs for all chemicals, etc. in the instrument or used for maintenance

Provide input to the detailed hazard analysis performed by DFRC safety group

Types and controls

Basic hazards include lasers, radioactive materials, radio frequency emitters, pressure
vessels, compressed gasses, chemicals, cryogens, motors/pumps, heaters, chillers,
batteries/uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)

General Integration Considerations

Instrument Integration Design

Requires intimate knowledge of aircraft grade fasteners, materials, processes,
etc.
National Aerospace Standards
Mil-Spec Standards
Air Force-Navy Standards

Corrosion preventionmaterial selection and surface finishes

Weld design and inspectionwhen necessary
New electrical wiringnon-flammable (usually Teflon-based Mil-Spec wire)
Optical window selection based on instrument requirements: fused silica, BK7
(borosilicate crown glass), Pyrex, etc.
Optical window usage is tightly controlledwindows periodically undergo
environmental (temperature and pressure) testing to verify structural integrity

Perform EMI test of aircraft and experimenter systems to see potential

interference issues
Known EMI issues are kept in mind in the floorplan development phase
Antenna locations (i.e., conflicts between GPS antennas and Inmarsat/Iridium
satellite communications systems)

General familiarity with aircraft systems and their potential use to

experimenters
Aircraft avionics systems data, etc. available through the onboard data system
Facility instrumentation measurements and capabilities

3D Design Tools

Extensive 3D geometry
modeling is used in new
installation design
Facilitates the ability to
anticipate issues in the
component
manufacture/fabrication/installat
ion processes to streamline the
actual instrument integration
process
Models are directly linked to 2D
CAD installation drawings
which are required to document
installations
Models are directly linked to
numerical finite element models
used in structural and dynamic
analyses
Used to generate various
electronic files used extensively
in the manufacturing process
utilizing Computer-Aided
Machining (CAM)

Stress Analysis

Stress analysis is performed utilizing

the applicable loads cases for the
installation
Aero loading (i.e., lift and drag)
Inertial loading
Operational loads
Emergency landing loads

Cabin pressure load

3D geometry models are directly

linked to numerical finite element
models used in the stress analyses to
verify structural integrity of the
installation under
Utilize engineering calculation
software to tie analysis documents
together with applicable hand
calculations, explanation, and
discussion

Modal Analysis

Modal analysis is typically

performed on installations
external to the aircraft
Many of the external
installations on the DC-8 can be
relatively blunt-shaped (nonaerodynamic) objects which, in
general, create significant
vortex shedding in their wakes

Performed in conjunction with a

basic vortex shedding analysis
to verify that there will be no
significant detrimental dynamic
loading due to airflow-induced
vibration
Sometimes also performed on
internal installations if vibration
is a significant concern to an
instruments functionality,
alignment, etc.

Facility Instrumentation

IR Surface Temperature Sensor

-Remotely Sensed
-Uses IR technology to give surface
temperature/cloud top temperature
-Senses temperature from -80 to 80 C
-Accuracy of +/- 0.5 C

Total Air Temperature Sensor

-Total Air Temperature (TAT)
The maximum air temperature which can
be attained by 100% conversion of the
kinetic energy of the flight. Total air
temperature is an essential input to an air
data computer in order to calculate static
air temperature and hence true airspeed.
-Static Air Temperature (SAT)
The temperature of the undisturbed air
through which the aircraft is about to fly
-True Air Speed (TAS)
Speed of the aircraft relative to
the airmass in which it is flying
TAS=39*Mach(sqrt(T))

Cabin Pressure
- Provides pressure inside the cabin, as pressure changes with altitude
-Operates on the variable capacitance technique
-One side contains the reference or sea level pressure
-The other side contains the measured pressure
-Change in capacitance is then transferred to an analog output signal

Hygrometers
-Capable of measuring dew/frost points between -75C and +50C
-The accuracy of this system is 0.1 C
-Uses Chilled Mirror optical Technology
-A mirror is thermoelectrically cooled until it reaches a temperature at
which condensation begins to form
-the presence of condensation is sensed optically. The signal output is a
voltage corresponding to the temperature of the mirror.

-The 3-stage has a dew/frost point range of -70 to 70 C

-Dew/Frost Point Accuracy 0.20C

Applanix POS AV
-Position and Orientation System for Airborne Vehicles
-Contains three pieces: POS Computer System, Inertial
Measurement Unit (IMU), and Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS) Antenna
-IMU uses Kalman Filter Technology for added accuracy
Latitude, Longitude, Attitude, Velocity, Acceleration,
Angular rate, Roll and Pitch, and Heading are available
In real-time and through post-processing

POS AV

Cameras
4 Network Cameras
-Viewed in real time during flight
-Nadir and Forward positioned Cameras are recorded
-Other two are Cargo Pit Cams for safety

DMS Camera
-On DC-8 for Nadir Imaging/Topographic Mapping
-Paired with POS AV for exact time and location logging

AIMMS20 3-D Winds Probe

Air Data Probe:
-Accurately measures the three
dimensional, aircraft relative flow
vector
-This includes true airspeed,
angle-of-attack and sideslip
-Also an Accelerometer package
to detect turbulence

3 Modules:
-IMU
-Full six-degree of freedom
-3 rate gyros and 3 accelerometers
-Data is Broadcasted at 40 Hz for
precise tracking
-GPS
-Provides position data, especially
heading
-0.1 degree heading accuracy with IMU
-CPM
-Uses Kalman Filter Technology
-Determines wind solution to about 1 knot

On-Board Data Systems

Housekeeping Data
Aircraft State Data
Facility Instrumentation

Satellite Communications
Iridium
INMARSAT
Situational Awareness
Data communication
Visualization

On-Board Data Systems

Aircraft State Data Position, Attitude, Speed,

Heading and Track Angle.

Air data Current outside pressures and

temperatures.
Facility Instrument Data Data recorded from
Facility Instruments

On-Board Data Systems

NASDAT is one of the most important components

of the data system.

Provides a standard interface between flight-critical

systems on the aircraft and the experimenters and the
rest of the data system.

Sends Telemetry to the ground via Iridium

Provides a 1Hz UDP packet in the IWG1 Data format

On-Board Data Systems

NASDAT

IWG1 Data Format

A series of comma separated values provided in

a 1Hz UDP packet.
A product of the Interagency Working Group for
Airborne Data and Telementry Standards
Standard values include aircraft position and
attitude data, cabin pressure, temperature,
humidity, etc.

IWG1 Data Packet

Timing

Instruments frequently need accurate timing

information, for which the DC-8 provides two
options:

IRIG-B is 100 Pulse per second, Binary

Coded Decimal signal that operates over a
dedicated coaxial cable.

NTP is a network-based protocol running

over Ethernet

Both are served from a GPS based time server.

ICARTT Data Format

International Consortium for Atmospheric on Transport

and Transformation
All information is in the header, followed by comma
separated values for data

Timing is seconds from midnight

Missing data value is -9999 (or -99999)

Full file format can be found at

http://www-air.larc.nasa.gov/missions/etc/ESDS-RFC019-v1.1_0.pdf

Differences In Speed Parameters

Indicated Air Speed (IAS) Airspeed read

directly from airspeed indicator on the aircraft.
Difference between total pressure and static
pressure. Always less than TAS.
True Air Speed (TAS) Speed of the aircraft
relative to the airmass in which it is flying
Ground Speed Speed of the aircraft relative
to the ground (adds wind speed vector)

Differences in Altitude Parameters

MSL Altitude Altitude of aircraft referencing Mean

Sea Level. Aircraft above 18,000 feet set their
altimeters to reference sea level.
GPS Altitude Altitude of aircraft referencing WGS-84
geoid
Pressure Altitude The indicated altitude when the
altimeter is set to an agreed baseline pressure setting
(Height above the standard datum plane)
Radar Altitude (AGL) Altitude Above Ground Level

WGS-84 Geoid
The shape that the surface of the oceans would take under the influence of
Gravity alone.

Iridium Communications

The Iridium Satellite constellation was launched in the

late 90's to provide worldwide phone service.

66 Satellites

11 Orbits

The DC-8 features a multichannel Iridium system for

worldwide data communications.

4+ modems at 2400 bps for a total of 9600 bps

Iridium Basics

Iridium consists of a 66 satellite

constellation in 6 in polar orbits,
providing true global coverage.
Operate in L-Band, 1616 and
1626.5 Mhz.
Data is routed via Mesh network between satellites,
ultimately arriving at one of three ground stations.
Requires open line of sight to function.

Pros and Cons of Iridium

Pros:

It's available globally.

As a government customer, we can get a flat-rate

plan.

Small, omnidirectional antennas make for easy

installation

Cons

Low reliabilty.

Very low bandwidth 2400bps, Half Duplex channels.

Roughly equivalent to dial-up internet in 1985.

Iridium Usage

Despite it's caveats, Iridium sees extensive use in the

Airborne Science fleet, particularly in polar campaigns.
DC-8/P-3

Provides aircraft tracking, weather data, text

coummunications via IRC/xChat, and on one occasion,
was used to relay telemetry for a rocket launch.

Global Hawk

ASF Personnel were able to provide real time status

monitoring of instruments and power, aircraft state data,
and command and control of instruments over 6 2400 bps
links.

L-3 Communications provided hardware to fly the aircraft

and talk to ATC over 4 additional channels.

INMARSAT Communications

In addition to the Iridium communications, the DC-8 now

has an INMARSAT Swift Broadband system.

Delivers up to 432kbps.

Only works between 70 and 70.

3 Satellite constellation in geosynchronous orbit.

Requires a pointable or phased array antenna.

Around a 2 second ping time.

First major test in Hayabusa to provide real time video

streaming.

INMARSAT Basics

Founded 1979, as the

non-profit International
Maritime Satellite
organization.

Several satellite
constellations have been
launched, with the 5 I-3
satellites and 3 I-4
satellites currently
providing service.

BGAN Services

The I4 INMARSAT Satellites provide the Broadband

Global Area Network.

Background IP Service provides up to 432 kbps, with

no service guarantee. ($5.88/MB)

Streaming Services provide guaranteed bandwidth

on a pay-per-minute basis at 32, 64, or 128 kbps.

ISDN, Fax and POTS telephone services are also

avaialable.

Overall, speeds are roughly a medium-slow DSL line.

BGAN Coverage Map

KU Band

A number of UAV platforms (Global Hawk, Ikhana) now

employ KU Band systems.
These systems require a large, pointable dish or phased
array antenna, but deliver very high data rates (up to 50
mbps in some cases).

Equivalent to 2-3 fast cable internet connections.

Time must be leased on specific satellites for specific

areas. No coverage is available beyond 70 degrees
latitude.

Situational Awareness Web App

The DC-8 data system provides a Web

application for in-flight situational
awareness and decision support.

Tables of parameters, strip charts, displays

of navigation software, video cameras.

Live data display from instruments.

Google Earth based displays.

DC8 Data Displays

Questions???