Global Hawk GWAS

Global Hawk Advanced Whole Air Sampler Instrument

We worked with Elliot Atlas (University of Miami), Roger Hendershot, Rich Lueb and Jason Disbrow (NASA/Dryden Flight Research Center) to create a design for an installation of an advanced whole air sampler (AWAS) on the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.  We created models of all required can assembly configurations – 10 cans, 8 cans, and 6 cans – and worked with Jason Disbrow to modify these configurations due to aircraft design changes and limitations.  Steve Gabbard acted as design liaison with an outside sheet metal fabricator who provided sheet metal can enclosure fabrication that resulted in costs savings of approximately 50%, and he performed assembly of the received components from this vendor to create the required sample can configurations.  The final design resulted in a total of 88 cans being installed in the GlobalHawk aircraft (very near the initial design goal of 90 cans).  In addition, we provided Labview programming support for instrument-to-ground communication issues related to remote control of the instrument during flight.  The actual installation and testing of the instrument was performed during ATTREX test flights from August – November 2011.  Steve Gabbard assisted with mechanical modifications, instrument installation, and Labview programming revisions as needed during the test flights, and also provided mechanical field support for installation during actual ATTREX field missions in 2012-2014. 

Global Hawk Advanced Whole Air Sampler 2 X 5 Enclosure Assembly

Global Hawk Advanced Whole Air Sampler - Full Installation