Verification of UAV Meteorological Observation Against a Tall Meteorological Tower

Recently, the industry using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is rapidly growing. Accordingly, researches on the relevant issues including urban meteorology are being actively conducted. However, concerns about the reliability of observation sensors used in meteorological monitoring equipped with drones highlight the need for further research. The Boseong Standard Meteorological Observatory’s comprehensive observation tower, situated in flat and homogeneous terrain without tall buildings nearby, is an ideal site to verify the reliability of UAV observation data.

In this study, the reliability of UAV meteorological observations is quantitatively verified by comparing the UAV-observed meteorological factors with measurements from the Boseong observation tower. Observations were conducted from January 20 to 22, 2025, using a UAV with an iMET-X4 temperature and humidity sensor and an FT742-SM wind speed and direction sensor. A total of 39 flights were performed, including stationary flights at altitudes of 300, 80, 60, 40, 20, and 10m for 150 seconds each. To analyze turbulence characteristics, additional stationary flights at 300 and 80m for 930 seconds each were performed.

The reliability of UAV meteorological observations was evaluated by comparing vertical meteorological data between UAV and towers and statistically analyzing the accuracy of UAV observation data. In addition to standard variables such as wind and temperature, we expect that production of post-processed observation data such as turbulent intensity can also be obtained using the UAV meteorological observation.

This research utilized data from the "Standardization of National Meteorological Equipment and Observation Data" project by the Korea Meteorological Administration's National Institute of Meteorological Sciences and was supported by the "Development of Core Technologies for Safe Operation of Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM)" (RS-2024-00404042) project funded by the Korea Meteorological Administration. And this work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (RS-2024-00356913).