Estimating vehicle speed through an advecting medium

A vehicle comprising:

• a body;
• a propulsion mechanism connected to the body;
• and
• a speed-through-medium estimation system connected to the body, wherein the speed-through-medium estimation system is configured, when the vehicle is moving through a medium which subjects the vehicle to advection due to movement of the medium, to:
• measure, using a navigation system, a plurality of velocities of the vehicle in the medium over time;
• measure, using a directional sensor, a course-through-medium over the time;
• calculate, using the plurality of velocities and the course-through-medium, a variation of a speed-over-ground of the vehicle over time as a function of the course-through-medium over the time;
• and
• concurrently estimate, using the variation, 1) an average speed-through-medium for the vehicle over the time, 2) an advection rate of the medium over the time, and 3) an advection direction of the medium over the time.

An aerospace vehicle comprising:

• an aerospace body;
• a propulsion mechanism connected to the aerospace body;
• and
• a speed-through-medium estimation system connected to the aerospace body, wherein the speed-through-medium estimation system is configured, when the aerospace vehicle is moving through a medium which subjects the aerospace vehicle to advection due to movement of the medium, to:
• measure, using a navigation system, a plurality of velocities of the vehicle in the medium over time;
• measure, using a directional sensor, a course-through-medium over the time;
• calculate, using the plurality of velocities and the course-through-medium, a variation of a speed-over-ground of the vehicle over time as a function of the course-through-medium over the time;
• and
• concurrently estimate, using the variation, 1) an average speed-through-medium for the vehicle over the time, 2) an advection rate of the medium over the time, and 3) an advection direction of the medium over the time.