HALE Stormers, by Naoki Kobayashi, Alex Kunycky, Yuya Makino

Project Overview

Integrated Pumped Hydropower and Desalination System Overview

[[<ref>A.H. Slocum et al./Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 18 (2016) 80-99.</ref>]]

Solar-electric HALE aircraft are lightweight, high aspect ratio planes that generate electricity using photovoltaic cells on the lifting surfaces. This aircraft will be deployed for month-long missions, as a closer alternative to satellite observation of the earth’s changing climate, so the aircraft must generate and store excess electricity during the day to stay aloft at night. The payload will include instrumentation only; the electrical “payload” required to run the instruments will be more critical than their relatively-low mass. The aircraft will enable climate scientists to make precise, prolonged measurements anywhere in the world, to inform and build climate models as the atmosphere continues to warm.