A new paper in Nature Scientific Reports describes our innovative approach to icing detection, which is capable of distinguishing between common and manageable icing conditions and more dangerous accretions caused by Supercooled Large Drops (SLD).
Many aircraft, like airliners, are certified to fly in icing conditions, but currently have only simplistic icing detection probes. The discovery that ice accretion by the impact of supercooled large droplets (SLDs) has caused many aircraft accidents emphasizes the need for more capable icing detection systems capable of discerning between ordinary icing and the more hazardous SLD conditions.
The paper describes the development and flight test of an icing detection system consisting of a microwave resonator unit to measure ice accretion onto the aircraft, and an optical unit to estimate the icing-hazard potential of the atmosphere around the aircraft. Flight tests in a jet aircraft with reference scientific measurements indicate that our new system is capable of detecting ice accretion and discriminating between common icing conditions and the more hazardous SLD conditions.
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