Fog forecasting

[Delenot]

Is there an app (Android), website, etc that can provide current fog conditions including ceiling and.... whatever the top of the fog is called?

 

[THE CYBORG]

The Met Office Weather Forecast app gives fog warnings but that may be only UK I don't know.

But THIS could be worth a browse.

 

[old man mavic]

it would be very difficult to say if it was foggy in a given location ,you should not fly in fog for the following reasons
(1)you would not be able to see the drone,so no VLOS
(2)the moisture would be sucked into the drone and could damage the internal components
(3)the sensors would be confused and it could cause issues trying to bring the drone back down
(4) what would be the point as the camera would not see anything

 

[THE CYBORG]

it would be very difficult to say if it was foggy in a given location ,you should not fly in fog for the following reasons
(1)you would not be able to see the drone,so no VLOS
(2)the moisture would be sucked into the drone and could damage the internal components
(3)the sensors would be confused and it could cause issues trying to bring the drone back down
(4) what would be the point as the camera would not see anything

I concur.
I flew in fog once & although the resulting video gave the atmospheric results I was after when I landed the drone was covered in condensation so bad it was dripping off it.
I will never fly in fog again.
I had travelled to a local stone circle and the fog descended, I thought it would be good to get above it so it looked like I was descending through the clouds, it worked but like I say never again.

 

[Guitarzan]

IMO, that would be smartest move!

 

[Delenot]

I stepped outside this morning and the fog cut off vision at the top of my trees, about 50ft. Now if the upper limit of the fog was 60ft, or 1000ft, I couldn't tell you I couldn't see through it. As it was one of the few windless times I get around my home I thought about flying. So I started wondering if the local weather radar, or whatever, could read the height of the fog. One of those 'Is there an app for that' moments. I'm still not sure I would even try to fly it as I agree with all the warnings given here, but it wouldn't even be an option to me if I didn't know the height the fog ended at. Thank you all for the ever helpful advice!

 

[old man mavic]

I stepped outside this morning and the fog cut off vision at the top of my trees, about 50ft. Now if the upper limit of the fog was 60ft, or 1000ft, I couldn't tell you I couldn't see through it. As it was one of the few windless times I get around my home I thought about flying. So I started wondering if the local weather radar, or whatever, could read the height of the fog. One of those 'Is there an app for that' moments. I'm still not sure I would even try to fly it as I agree with all the warnings given here, but it wouldn't even be an option to me if I didn't know the height the fog ended at. Thank you all for the ever helpful advice!

it would not have been safe to fly in those conditions regardless of how far the fog extended, and you would have been putting you drone at great risk if you had flown it up into the fog
please dont fly in that sort of scenario its just not worth it

 

[Bosco Bear]

I was wondering about this earlier today. My son and grandson went out in the boat to go fishing this morning. I figured I would fly over for some aerial shots of them in action. When I got to where I planned to launch I chickened out because I didn't want to fly over the water through the fog. It seemed like a sure way to make the headlines in the "crashes and flyaways" section.

 

[Delenot]

As a follow up question regarding the fog interfering with sensors. I had asked about fog you cannot see through, but what about visible fog? The kind you can see, but see through? With the right sun positioning you can get some great shots. Any idea if the (I don't know) density of the fog can effect the behavior of the drone? Not regarding possible moisture damage.

 

[old man mavic]

what you are referring to is more along the lines of mist which can form when moist warm air meets cold air and it can create some great pics you can also be up at a high vantage point and fly over mist in a valley and watch it gradually lift they are vastly different circumstances to what you originally described the main thing to remember is keeping the drone in sight and watching the wind direction as you film

 

[Cymruflyer]

I don't think you can forecast fog at height levels because it is always varying as the morning or evening progresses. I have taken off some mornings, flying my aircraft and the fog is out around the country side and sometimes, I find that very quickly is has drifted in below me. Also most of the time it is very low, once I have gone through about 2-300 ft there is no more fog and the countryside looks beautiful bathed in the fog draping the landscape below.

There have been cases where a pilot takes off and the airfield below suddenly gets socked in and that may require flying off to another field to land, or just hang about up there for a while and watch until the fog moves or burns off as the sun rises.

Since fog is such a funny thing, I doubt if it can be accurately forecast. We can't even forecast it at our airport, for thickness, coverage and height, so I wonder how a forecast can do that.

 

[hiflyer201]

Check the forecast. Temperature and Dew point spread is the key. if they are close, fog is a real threat. If they are the same you can bet it's foggy or will be very shortly. You can check the hourly reports to see if they are closing. Of course early morning and evening are the most likely times for it to occur.
That's one of the things you learn very early in a flying career.. or you probably will have a very sort career

 

[GDadd]

I use an app called Windy. Shows precipitation, wind, visibility, humidity, temp, waves, etc at varying altitudes and also a forecast. Really useful when planning to travel to a location some time and distance away to fly, especially when using the simulator.

 

[Delenot]

I don't think you can forecast fog at height levels because it is always varying as the morning or evening progresses. I have taken off some mornings, flying my aircraft and the fog is out around the country side and sometimes, I find that very quickly is has drifted in below me. Also most of the time it is very low, once I have gone through about 2-300 ft there is no more fog and the countryside looks beautiful bathed in the fog draping the landscape below.

There have been cases where a pilot takes off and the airfield below suddenly gets socked in and that may require flying off to another field to land, or just hang about up there for a while and watch until the fog moves or burns off as the sun rises.

Since fog is such a funny thing, I doubt if it can be accurately forecast. We can't even forecast it at our airport, for thickness, coverage and height, so I wonder how a forecast can do that.

I was hoping weather radar might be able to pick it up in real time and there was a website you could log in and actively see it. But you are certainly correct in it's rapidly changing nature.