News

Recent News:

Monitoring Atmospheric Composition with SkyWisp - (Fall 2012)
The NOAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program Office has funded a pilot study to collect atmospheric samples and data from altitudes as high as 100,000 ft using a balloon tethered UAS glider, SkyWisp.

Target: Hurricanes - (September 2012)
NOAA Scientists Part Of NASA-Led Mission To Study The Damaging Storms With Unmanned Aircraft, New Instruments

AUVSI’s Tenth Annual Student Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) Competition - (June 2012)
NOAA demonstrates a meteorological balloon to students participating in AUVSI's tenth annual student UAS competition.

Introducing EMILY and other innovations to imporove hurricane forecasts - (May 2012)
NOAA researchers will be using several innovative tools, techniques, and research results during the 2012 hurricane season to continue to improve hurricane forecasting. Several of these are summarized below in our 2012 hurricane research news briefs.

UAS deployed in the Arctic for Steller Sea Lions Surveys - (5/10/2012)
NOAA Scientists are testing unmanned planes to test a quieter adn possibly safer approach to surveying populations of endangered marine mammals, such as Steller sea lions off Finch Point, Seguam Island, Alaska.

Archive News:

That's Professor Global Hawk - (5/1/2011 - off-site link)
A Global Hawk has been used for Earth science in a joint effort between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to demonstrate the aircraft's scientific utility.

Remotely operated aircraft measure Arctic soot - YouTube Video - (April 2011)
The NOAA/PMEL Manta flew 18 flights out of Ny Alesund, Svalbard, Norway during the Soot Transport, Absorption, and Deposition Study measuring vertical profiles of soot, particle number, temperature and relative humidity.

Aloft in the Arctic - (5/5/2011)
An international research team, completed a series of unmanned flights over the Arctic. The team is investigating the potential role of black carbon, or soot, in the rapidly changing Arctic climate.

Drone seeks storms' secrets - (6/29/09)
In the middle of the Atlantic, they will hunt hurricanes -- maybe leading to the end of manned reconnaissance flights, or at least the most dangerous ones.

UAF aircraft developed to help monitor seal populations - (6/2/2009)
A drone aircraft is flying surveillance over the Bering Sea this month as scientists test its prospects for documenting little-studied ice seals at the southern edge of the ice pack.

Unmanned Aircraft Launched from NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson - (10/29/08)
Scientists have successfully launched and retrieved an unmanned aircraft from the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson this month, preparing for a planned expedition to study ice seals in the Bering Sea in the spring of 2009.

From JuneauEmpire.com Arctic scientists test out unmanned aircraft (10/30/08)
The idea is that crafts like this one will extend the research capacity of NOAA's non-icebreaking research vessels.

From the Boulder Daily Camera - CU, Boulder researchers to fly unmanned planes over Greenland (7/16/08)
Unmanned airplanes flying over Greenland’s ice sheet this month is expected to give Boulder scientists a rare chance to do everything from monitor melting to tracking seal and polar bear populations.

From the Miami Herald - Drone aircraft being used in hurricane research (3/25/2008)
Unmanned, remote-controlled airplanes are being used by the U.S. government to conduct dangerous research missions into hurricanes.

From the Boulder Daily Camera - Unmanned planes head into danger (2/4/2008)
Beginning this spring, unmanned planes will be recruited to go on research missions -- to diminishing ice shelves, the eyes of hurrincanes and the hearts of heavy rainstorms -- deemed too risky for humans.

From Earth & Sky - Robot aircraft do dirty work of science (Feb 2008)
Marty Ralph of ESRL tells Earth & Sky that in addition to chasing hurricanes, the robot planes will gauge the potential for flooding from Pacific storms and better measure the melt of Arctice ice.

From Slashdot - Robot Planes to Track Weather and Climate (1/24/08 external link)
Drone aircraft would be outfitted with special sensors and technology to help NOAA scientists better predict a hurricane's intensity and track, how fast Arctic summer ice will melt, and whether soggy Pacific storms will flood West Coast cities.

NOAA Press Release - NOAA Invests $3 Million for Unmanned Aircraft System Testing (1/22/08)
Pilotless Craft Gather Data for Hurricane Forecasts, Climate, West Coast Flood Warnings. Unmanned aircraft bearing automated sensors may soon help NOAA scientists better predict a hurricane’s intensity and track, how fast Arctic summer ice will melt, and whether soggy Pacific storms will flood West Coast cities.

From vnunet.com - Robot planes take to the skies (1/22/08)
Robot craft will be sent on monitoring missions this summer that are either too long or too perilous for human operations.

From BioMedicine - NOAA invests $3 million for unmanned aircraft system testing (1/23/08)
Unmanned aircraft bearing automated sensors may soon help NOAA scientists better predict a hurricanes intensity and track, how fast Arctic summer ice will melt, and whether soggy Pacific storms will flood West Coast cities.

From HurricaneHunters.blogspot.com - Unmanned aircraft could boost hurricane-monitoring (1/22/08)
Unlike manned aircraft, which are generally safe but put people at risk, unmanned craft theoretically could operate for sustained periods at lower altitudes and give meteorologists a continuous sampling of data, including wind speed, temperature, pressure and moisture.

From United Press International - NOAA to test climate data-gathering drones (1/22/08)
Unmanned aircraft may soon be flying into hurricanes and over the Arctic ice to test if they can be used on risky flights.

From Reuters - Unmanned aircraft could boost hurricane-monitoring (1/22/08 external link)
At an American Meteorological Society meeting in New Orleans, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists announced a three-year program initially funded with $3 million to study use of unmanned aircraft in hurricanes.

From USA Today - Robot planes to take on "dangerous, dull, or dirty" missions (1/22/08 external link)
For research missions that are too "dangerous, dull or dirty" for pilots and scientists, new unmanned aircraft will take to the skies this summer to observe Atlantic hurricanes and Arctic ice patterns.

From BBC News - Robots to collect dangerous data (1/23/08)
Robot planes have long been used by the military, but they are now being adapted for scientific use. NOAA researchers say it could revolutionise the way the Earth's systems are monitored.

From EarthSkyBlogs - Hurricanes on a plane - Jorge Salazar (1/22/08)
NOAA plans to develop a program of robotic aircraft that will carry automated sensors to do the dirty work of obtaining important scientific data on hard-to-measure phenomena such as hurricanes and storms over the Pacific ocean, sea ice, snow pack, and wildfires.

From PalmBeachPost.com - Send in the Drones (1/22/08)
Why shouldn't hurricane forecasters get in on the fun of playing with remote-controlled planes? Good news: They are.

12/14/2007 – From KHNL News: National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's New Eye in the Sky

11/02/2007 – Pilotless Aircraft Flies Toward Eye of Hurricane for First Time

09/2007 – Monitoring Environmental Change ... Like a Hawk - Envirocast Volume 2, Issue 2 September 2007

10/08/2007 – Washington Post Science Chat - Washington Post staff writer Christopher Lee with Joe Cione

09/18/2007 – From Honolulu Star Bulletin: Search for sea debris will be on autopilot

08/24/2007 – Message from the Under Secretary - Unmanned Aircraft Ready for Hurricane Test

08/2007 – Aerospace America - Commentary by V.Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr. (Ret.) (.pdf)

03/01/2007 – Unmanned Systems - Published by AUVSI for the Unmanned Systems Industry (.pdf)

11/06/2006 – From Aero-News.Net: NASA Supports UAS Fire Mapping Efforts in CA Fire (external) – PDF Version

10/30/2006 – From LA Times: Firefighters contain most of fatal Esperanza blaze (.pdf)

10/05/2006 – From GovExec.com: Unmanned aerial vehicles get funding boost

09/08/2006 – From MSNBC.com: Unmanned drones to probe hurricanes

08/20/2006 – From the Boulder Daily Camera > News > Science: Unmanned Science Takes Flight

07/13/2006 – Senate Hearing Testimonies "Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Alaska and the Pacific Region: A Framework for the Nation" (external link)

07/14/2006 – Message from the Under Secretary - "Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Alaska and the Pacific Region"

03/21/2006 – NOAA Missions Now Utilizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Altair News	Aerosonde News	Manta News (external link)	Silver Fox News	NASA Ikhana News

Archive NOAA Press Releases:

NOAA Unmanned Aircraft Helping Scientists Learn About Alaskan Ice Seals (6/2/09)

Bush Administration More Than Quadruples 2009 Hurricane Forecast Improvement Budget Request to $17 Million (8/11/08)

Unmanned Aircraft to Get Bird's Eye View of Shrinking Greenland Ice Sheet (7/15/08)

NOAA Invests $3 Million for Unmanned Aircraft System Testing (1/22/08)