A method including operating a vehicle in a medium. The vehicle is subject to advection due to movement of the medium. The method also includes measuring, using a navigation system, positions of a vehicle over time. The method also includes measuring, using a directional sensor, a course-through-medium over the time. The method also includes calculating, using the positions and the course-through-medium, a variation of a speed-over-ground of the vehicle over the time as a function of the course-through-medium over the time. The method also includes concurrently estimating, using the variation, 1) an average speed-through-medium for the vehicle over the time, and 2) an advection rate of the medium, and 3) an advection direction of the medium.

According to an example embodiment, an apparatus for wind speed measurement is provided, the apparatus comprising: a pressure sensor arranged to provide a pressure sensor signal that is descriptive of an instantaneous air pressure; a wind shield arranged to prevent a direct airflow from the environment of the apparatus to the pressure sensor; and a processing unit for deriving, based on the pressure sensor signal, one or more wind speed characteristics that are descriptive of the wind speed at a predefined reference measurement height.

Automatic low-speed aircraft maneuver wind compensation is implemented by an aircraft flight control system flight control computer (FCC) configured to receive or retrieve steady wind data and retrieve groundspeed data for the aircraft. The FCC computes two-dimensional relative horizontal airspeed (i.e., horizontal relative to the surface of the earth) for the aircraft, using the steady wind data and the groundspeed data for the aircraft, and computes relative changes in trim controls of the aircraft using the two-dimensional relative horizontal airspeed of the aircraft. The resulting relative changes in controls of the aircraft due to relative horizontal airspeed changes are applied to flight element control actuators.

Automatic low-speed aircraft maneuver wind compensation is implemented by an aircraft flight control system flight control computer (FCC) configured to receive or retrieve steady wind data and retrieve groundspeed data for the aircraft. The FCC computes two-dimensional relative horizontal airspeed (i.e., horizontal relative to the surface of the earth) for the aircraft, using the steady wind data and the groundspeed data for the aircraft, and computes relative changes in trim controls of the aircraft using the two-dimensional relative horizontal airspeed of the aircraft. The resulting relative changes in controls of the aircraft due to relative horizontal airspeed changes are applied to flight element control actuators.

A system for collecting and managing parametric data via an external communications network comprises one or more parametric stations operatively connected via the external network to a certification server and a payout server. Each parametric station is configured to receive parametric data from a remote source, determine that the parametric data satisfies a predetermined condition, and transmit the parametric data over the external network to the certification server in response to the parametric data satisfying the predetermined condition. The certification server is configured to generate a certification report based on the parametric data and a data model related to the remote source and transmit the generated certification report to the payout server. The payout server is configured to determine that terms of an associated contract are satisfied based on the certification report, and trigger a payout based on the terms that are satisfied based on the certification report.

An unmanned aerial vehicle detector includes an unmanned aerial vehicle, a pump/detector combination on the unmanned aerial vehicle and a tube connected at a proximal end to the pump/detector combination. The pump/detector combination is configured to draw gas samples from a distal end of the tube to the detector and to detect a level of a gas drawn from within a prescribed distance above ground level. A processor determines the wind velocity at the unmanned aerial vehicle location.

An unmanned aerial vehicle detector includes an unmanned aerial vehicle, a pump/detector combination on the unmanned aerial vehicle and a tube connected at a proximal end to the pump/detector combination. The pump/detector combination is configured to draw gas samples from a distal end of the tube to the detector and to detect a level of a gas drawn from within a prescribed distance above ground level. A processor determines the wind velocity at the unmanned aerial vehicle location.

Computer implemented techniques for simulating a fluid flow about a surface of a solid, include receiving a coordinate system for representation of a curvilinear mesh that conforms to the surface of the solid, simulating, with a lattice velocity set transport of particles in a volume of fluid, with the transport causing collision among the particles, executing a distribution function for transport of the particles, with the distribution function including a particle collision determination and a change in particle distribution associated with the curvilinear mesh, performing by the computing system, advection operations in the coordinate system under constraints applied to particle momentum values and mapping by the computer system values resulting from simulating onto the curvilinear mesh by translation of the particle momentum values and spatial coordinates determined in the coordinate system into momentum and spatial values in the curvilinear space.

Computer implemented techniques for simulating a fluid flow about a surface of a solid, include receiving a coordinate system for representation of a curvilinear mesh that conforms to the surface of the solid, simulating, with a lattice velocity set transport of particles in a volume of fluid, with the transport causing collision among the particles, executing a distribution function for transport of the particles, with the distribution function including a particle collision determination and a change in particle distribution associated with the curvilinear mesh, performing by the computing system, advection operations in the coordinate system under constraints applied to particle momentum values and mapping by the computer system values resulting from simulating onto the curvilinear mesh by translation of the particle momentum values and spatial coordinates determined in the coordinate system into momentum and spatial values in the curvilinear space.

In one embodiment, a method includes determining, by a controller, a first wind direction relative to a first vehicle and determining, by the controller, a first wind speed relative to the first vehicle. The method also includes calculating, by the controller, an absolute wind direction relative to ground using the first wind direction relative to the first vehicle and calculating, by the controller, an absolute wind speed relative to the ground using the first wind speed relative to the first vehicle. The method further includes calculating, by the controller, a second wind direction relative to a second vehicle using the absolute wind direction and calculating, by the controller, a second wind speed relative to the second vehicle using the absolute wind speed. A front end of the first vehicle and a front end of the second vehicle face different directions.