AbstractsEngineering

This thesis is dedicated to the study of atmospheric turbulence and its effects on wake-vortex decay. Wake-vortices are a by-product of the lift that makes every aircraft fly. Under certain special conditions, the decay-time of a wake-vortex can be high and thereby impose constrains on separation between aircrafts. A precise knowledge of background turbulence will hence improve the ability of predicting the decay of a wake-vortex. To compute the turbulence, LIDAR measurements have been used to calculate an EDR value (Eddy Dissipation Rate) of the air mass of interest. This parameter indeed quantifies the background turbulence and is of importance in the decay model. The results of this calculation will then be used to improve an overall wake-vortex simulation tool developed by AVTECH. The work performed during this master thesis has established several improvements in the wake-vortex decay model developed by AVTECH thanks to the input of the LIDAR data.