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Airborne based monitoringRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Measuring, Calibrating, Or Testing, Measurement System In A Specific Environment, Earth ScienceAirborne based monitoring description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070073485, Airborne based monitoring. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/113,710, filed Apr. 25, 2005, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/937,724, filed Sep. 9, 2004, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/856,288, filed May 28, 2004. Both the Ser. No. 10/937,724 application and the Ser. No. 10/856,288 application are hereby incorporated by reference. FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to a measurement system and method for determining local atmospheric conditions aboard an airborne aircraft. BACKGROUND [0003] Each day hundreds of scheduled flights operated by the major airlines, such as United Airlines, America Airlines, Delta, Northwest, Luftansa, Aer Lingus, and VietNam air traverse routes between cities throughout the world. In addition, cargo carriers, such as the United Post Office, DHL, Federal Express, and United Parcel Service fly routes throughout the world on a daily basis. Aircraft on these regularly scheduled flights travel generally predictable routes at generally predictable times. In addition to these commercial flights, there are numerous charter and general aviation flights, amounting to thousands of aircraft aloft each day, covering a large geographic area and encountering a wide variety of atmospheric and weather conditions at different locations and altitudes at different times of the day. [0004] Weather conditions affect many aspects of human life such as agriculture production and famine, public safety, transportation, tourism and communications. Thus, improved weather forecasting has many potential benefits. The combination of ground-based monitoring and satellite imagery have substantially enhanced weather prediction, however, weather forecasting can be further enhanced with more accurate weather data of conditions aloft. [0005] In addition, aircraft generally use static barometric pressure meters for determining altitude above sea level or relative to ground level. Such pressure altimeters operate by measuring local static pressure and comparing the measured pressure to a lookup table or calibration curve (correlating barometric pressure to altitude) in order to determine the corresponding altitude. This measure of altitude is referred to as pressure altitude because it is based upon a reading from an atmospheric pressure measurement device such as a static port and pressure transducer. A pressure altitude measurement, however, may not reflect the true altitude of the aircraft because the measurement is based on the assumption that atmospheric pressure is solely a function of altitude. This assumption may be incorrect--as other factors may alter the atmospheric pressure. Thus, a reading of pressure altitude may vary from "true altitude". Barometric pressure readings (and thus pressure altitude measurements) are affected by other atmospheric conditions such as wind speed and temperature. Thus, circularity problems arise when attempting to obtain a measure of atmospheric conditions as a function of altitude. SUMMARY [0006] An improved system and method for monitoring and accumulating atmospheric weather conditions is provided through the use of atmospheric, positional, altitudinal, and temporal data collection equipment aboard in-flight aircraft. According to an aspect of the invention, measurement equipment is placed aboard a plurality of monitoring aircraft and is configured to record local atmospheric conditions relative to the location of the aircraft. Preferably, each record of local atmospheric conditions is corecorded with 1) a date/time stamp representing the time of measurement, 2) a position reading representing the location of the aircraft at the time of measurement, and 3) an altitude reading representing the altitude of the aircraft at the time of measurement. [0007] According to an embodiment, any number of weather or inertial parameters, such as atmospheric pressure, outside air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction are measured from equipment aboard a plurality of airborne aircraft. For convenience these atmospheric/inertial measures are termed primary measurements. [0008] Preferably, secondary measurement means are also utilized to provide an independent measure of aircraft altitude and position. For instance, a global positioning system GPS receiver may be used to provide the location of the aircraft, including its altitude. According to an embodiment, a primary measurement, such as a barometric pressure reading, is correlated with a secondary measurement, such as true altitude information from a GPS receiver. [0009] Recorded data may be transmitted in real time to ground monitoring stations. In an embodiment, ground monitoring stations are capable of compiling data from a plurality of aircraft to generate real-time three-dimensional maps of weather conditions aloft. Weather forecasters, for example, could use this more detailed and accurate meteorological data to improve weather forecasts. The data could also provide excellent information to help optimize aircraft routing. [0010] According to another embodiment, an apparatus is provided for measuring barometric pressure as a function of altitude at an in-flight aircraft. The apparatus has an atmospheric pressure transducer for measuring outside air pressure and a second altimeter for determining altitude without regard to atmospheric pressure. A server is configured for receiving signals from the transducer and altimeter. Likewise, a transceiver is configured for transmitting recorded data from the server to a ground-based station while the airplane is in-flight. Thus, the ground-based station is provided with data reflecting barometric pressure as a function of altitude. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system for measuring and transmitting data between airplanes, users, and a server; [0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an organization of measuring equipment aboard a monitoring aircraft; [0013] FIG. 3 shows a process flow within a monitoring aircraft; [0014] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary data organization; and [0015] FIG. 5 shows a preferred processes flow within a base station. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of an airborne monitoring system. In particular, FIG. 1 demonstrates the communication pathways of the exemplary embodiment. Three aircraft 104, 106, and 108 are shown and are labeled M, SM, and S to designate their respective functionality. M-aircraft 104 is labeled M because it operates as a monitoring airplane that monitors weather conditions and transmits recorded conditions and the corresponding date, time, location and altitude tags to a ground based processing center 102 via a wireless downlink 112. [0017] In comparison, S-aircraft 108 is labeled S to indicate that it operates as a subscriber or user. S-aircraft 108 receives indicia of upcoming weather conditions via a wireless uplink 116 from the ground based processing center 102. SM-aircraft 106 operates as both a subscriber and a monitor and is thus labeled SM. SM-Aircraft 106 both sends and receives weather information and thus has a two-way data communication 114 with the ground based processing center 102. [0018] There are a variety of different ways of transmitting data from aircraft 104, 106, 108 to ground stations 102. The connections shown in FIG. 1 are merely exemplary and are simplified for ease of illustration and explanation. In a preferred embodiment, on-board data communications equipment such as Airline Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) or SATCOM communications systems, can be used to communicate data from aircraft to ground station. In a system using SATCOM, for example, data would be sent to the ground-based station 102 through a path passing through a communications satellite and a satellite receiver before reaching the ground-based station. Continue reading about Airborne based monitoring... Full patent description for Airborne based monitoring Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Airborne based monitoring patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Airborne based monitoring or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Grid-based trasnmission system Next Patent Application: Airborne weather profiler network Industry Class: Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Airborne based monitoring patent info. 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