Information-Based Sensor Placement for Data-Driven Estimation of Unsteady Flows

Estimation of unsteady flow fields around flight vehicles may improve flow interactions and lead to enhanced vehicle performance. Although flow-field representations can be very high-dimensional, their dynamics can have low-order representations and may be estimated using a few, appropriately placed measurements. This paper presents a sensor-selection framework for the intended application of data-driven, flow-field estimation. This framework combines data-driven modeling, steady-state Kalman Filter design, and a sparsification technique for sequential selection of sensors. This paper also uses the sensor selection framework to design sensor arrays that can perform well across a variety of operating conditions. Flow estimation results on numerical data show that the proposed framework produces arrays that are highly effective at flow-field estimation for the flow behind and an airfoil at a high angle of attack using embedded pressure sensors. Analysis of the flow fields reveals that paths of impinging stagnation points along the airfoil's surface during a shedding period of the flow are highly informative locations for placement of pressure sensors.