They're raising $10,000. From the Kickstarter project listing:
We will be using specially designed and equipped UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in order to probe the tornado for valuable information. Our UAVs are coupled with a sensor package that is able to record barometric pressure, temperature, and relative humidity. Each data point will be related to a specific GPS coordiante, including elevation. In turn, a 3-Dimensional representation of the sensor package inside the tornado will be rendered. This will allow meteorologists and engineers to essentially have access to the first MRI of a tornado.
Comments
I agree Blake. When I was a kid, I used to make parachutes for little green plastic army men out of napkins. I remember how in a stiff wind, they could loft and travel long distances away from me, with me chasing the whole time. I imagine a scaled up version of a similar concept could work in a supercell.
As much as I love the idea of using drones for data collection of weather events like this, the proposed airframe doesn't stand a chance in supercell. I'm a Kansas City resident, and I'm too familiar the effects of supercells, and their proposed bird won't make it anywhere near a tornado, because the rain/hail/wind/etc of the main storm cell will destroy that bird before it gets anywhere close to the main action.
That said, flying a fleet of sensors into a supercell/tornado is a cool idea. A bunch of APMs with telemetry radios could send back some really useful data. Balloons or even kites, placed in the path of the storm, make a lot more sense (simplicity, cost) than a plane. You don't need to worry about lifting a payload (with a powered wing) too much in a tornado, because tornadoes take care of that for you.
I imagine it would be difficult to fly into a tornado. I have often thought something more akin to a cruise missile, shot into the tornado, and releasing little sensor bomb-lets would be the way to go. I am glad to see people attempting to use UAS for necessary research such as this though.
I live in the Midwest and I fly drones, so I got to back these guys. Looking forward to mission reports. Stay safe.