The altitude is one of the most important measurements in aviation. Since atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, static pressure readings can be indicative of altitude. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel fibre optic based system that incorporates PSP at the tips to first determine pressure and temperature, and later used to determine altitude. The use of PSP to measure pressure is well established and has been employed in a wide range of applications. PSP relies on the quenching behaviour by oxygen, which can be related to pressure. Temperature can also be simultaneously determined. In the presented system, the fibre is used to deliver illumination light to the PSP and also collect any subsequent emissions via total internal reflection. The porous reflective layer ensures that PSP luminophores are effectively illuminated with their subsequent emissions returned back into the fibre. The system was demonstrated in the Manchester environmental chamber.
Optical Altitude Sensor Based on Pressure Sensitive Paints (PSP)
Published Online: July 29, 2009
Abstract