Maximum Travel Speed of Dynamic Soaring Considering Atmospheric Stability Condition

Dynamic soaring is a flight technique utilized by large seabirds to gain kinetic energy from the shear wind. Traveling is one of the scenarios where dynamic soaring plays an important role. This paper investigates the maximum travel speed performance of dynamic soaring under different atmospheric stability conditions. This research is enabled by using the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory to model the shear wind profile, which predicts the wind profile in different atmospheric stability conditions. Trajectory optimization with a point-mass dynamical model determines optimal trajectories associated with the maximum travel speed. Trajectories are searched within a realistic range of the inverse Obukhov length specifying the atmospheric stability condition. It is found that the optimal dynamic soaring pattern and the corresponding maximum travel speed and direction vary notably with the atmospheric stability condition.