ACES Aircraft and Mechanical Data from the Altus II UAV, July-August 2002

The Altus II Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Altus II UAV) system recorded aircraft and mechanical data during the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) based at the Naval Air Facility Key West in Florida. ACES aimed to provide observations of cloud electrification and validate satellite lightning measurements. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made the data available from July 10 through August 30, 2002.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite lightning measurements based on in-situ UAV observations mentioned in the description
• Study cloud electrification processes based on aircraft telemetry data collected near thunderstorms
• Analyze UAV flight dynamics and sensor performance based on recorded pitch, roll, yaw, engine speed, and fuel levels

Strengths

• Data was collected during a dedicated scientific campaign (ACES) with a clear objective to study cloud electrification
• Covers a specific time range from July 10 through August 30, 2002
• Includes multiple data types such as aircraft orientation (pitch, roll, yaw) and mechanical systems (engine speed, tail commands, fuel levels)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data is stored in MATLAB (.mat) format, which may require specific software or libraries to access

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Recorded by the Altus II Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system during the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES)

Time Range

July 10 through August 30, 2002

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 19:43:43.459768; freshness should be verified

Geography

Naval Air Facility Key West, Florida (campaign base); specific flight paths are not detailed