Laser-based system for measuring fluid data of a vehicle

A method of measuring fluid data of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• sending, to a laser positioned in, on, or attached to the vehicle, control signals causing the laser to emit laser light into a medium outside of the vehicle to induce one or more plasma sparks in the medium;
• receiving, from a sensor system positioned in, on, or attached to the vehicle, sensor data indicating one or more properties of the one or more plasma sparks detected by the sensor system, including an orientation of the one or more plasma sparks relative to the vehicle and/or relative to other plasma sparks;
• calculating the fluid data of the vehicle based at least on the sensor data, indicating the orientation of the one or more plasma sparks relative to the vehicle and/or relative to other plasma sparks;
• and
• outputting the fluid data of the vehicle.

A system for measuring fluid data of an aircraft, the system comprising:

• a laser positioned in, on, or attached to the aircraft and configured to emit laser light into air outside of the aircraft to induce a one or more plasma sparks in the air;
• a sensor system positioned in, on, or attached to the aircraft and configured to detect one or more properties of the one or more plasma sparks, including an orientation of the one or more plasma sparks relative to the aircraft;
• and
• a computing system positioned in, on, or attached to the aircraft and comprising a logic subsystem and a storage subsystem holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to:
• send control signals to the laser causing the laser to emit the laser light into the air outside of the aircraft to induce the one or more plasma sparks in the air;
• receive, from the sensor system, sensor data indicating one or more properties of the one or more plasma sparks detected by the sensor system, including the orientation of the one or more plasma sparks relative to the aircraft and/or relative to other plasma sparks;
• calculate the fluid data of the aircraft based at least on the sensor data, indicating the orientation of the one or more plasma sparks relative to the aircraft and/or relative to other plasma sparks;
• and
• output the fluid data of the aircraft.