Characterizing thermodynamic observations from unshielded multirotor drone sensors

Freeman, Sean W.; Bukowski, Jennie; Grant, Leah D.; Marinescu, Peter J.; Park, J. Minnie; Hitchcock, Stacey M.; Neumaier, Christine A.; van den Heever, Susan C.

doi:10.5194/amt-19-2941-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2941-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2941-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 9

Research article

|

04 May 2026

Research article |

| 04 May 2026

Characterizing thermodynamic observations from unshielded multirotor drone sensors

Sean W. Freeman, Jennie Bukowski, Leah D. Grant, Peter J. Marinescu, J. Minnie Park, Stacey M. Hitchcock, Christine A. Neumaier, and Susan C. van den Heever

Data sets

Unshielded Drone Sensor Data from Tethersondes and NEON Flux Towers Sean Freeman et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17497401

2D wind speed and direction (DP1.00001.001) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) https://doi.org/10.48443/YEX7-7Z81

Barometric pressure (DP1.00004.001) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) https://doi.org/10.48443/RT4VKZ04

Relative humidity (DP1.00098.001) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) https://doi.org/10.48443/K9VK-5K27

Shortwave and longwave radiation (net radiometer) (DP1.00023.001) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) https://doi.org/10.48443/9QPC-5V70

Triple aspirated air temperature (DP1.00003.001) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) https://doi.org/10.48443/PDE7-K607

Short summary

In this work, we tested different placements of a temperature and humidity sensor onboard a drone to understand what the relative errors are. Understanding these errors is critical as we want to collect more meteorological data from non-specialized platforms, such as drone swarms and drone package delivery.