False Fault Detection in Airdata Sensor due to Nonuniform Wind in Aerial Refueling

This paper presents a redundant-sensor-based Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) algorithm, applied to a receiver aircraft in aerial refueling operation. The FDI algorithm is based on a statistical approach and uses measurements from three identical airdata sensors, placed at dierent locations. The airdata sensors measure airspeed, angle-of-attack and side slip angle. Simulation results show that the FDI algorithm successfully performs detection and isolation of sensor faults when the receiver aircraft ies solo or outside the wake of the tanker aircraft. However, simulation experiments also show that the FDI algorithm yields false fault detection when the receiver aircraft ies within the nonuniform wind eld, induced by the wake vortices of the tanker.