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NOAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) ProgramProfessor Albin J. Gasiewski

Director, NOAA-CU Center for Environmental TechnologyUniversity of Colorado, Boulder, COMember, NOAA UAS Working Group

Dr. F. Martin RalphNOAA/W&W/Science Technology & Infusion Program Manager

NOAA UAS Program Manager

Sara SummersNOAA UAS Deputy Program Manager

HAP Applications SymposiumUniversity of York25 October 2006

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Program ManagementNOAA UAS ApplicationsField Activities – Altair DemoHurricane Demonstration ProjectEcosystems and ClimateResearch and DevelopmentThe Pathway Forward

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Program Management

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NOAA UAS Project Management Linking the P, P, B and E in PPBES

Program Manager: Dr. M. Ralph (ST&I), S. Summers (Deputy)Manages project planning, coordination, implementation and reporting within “Major Project” framework and guidelines.

UAS Steering Committee: RADM R. Behn, Dr. S. MacDonald Co-ChairsCoordinates PPBES Elements including Goals, Programs and Line Offices

UAS Working Group: CDR H. Halverson (Chair), S. Summers (Deputy)Day-to-day execution of the UAS project activities across Goals, Line Offices and Programs

NOAA Research Council: Dr. R. Spinrad (Chair)Assigned responsibility for UAS as a Major Project, key role in KDPs.

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NOAA UAS Steering Committee Members

Line Office Reps:• RDML Richard Behn - NMAO (co-chair)• Dr. Alexander “Sandy” MacDonald, OAR (co-chair)• Greg Mandt – NWS• CAPT Craig Mclean – NOS• CDR Todd Stiles – PP&I• TBD - NMFS & NESDIS Goal Team Reps:• Dr. Marty Ralph – Weather & Water • Mike Aslaksen – Commerce & Transportation• Dr. David Fahey – Climate• TBD - Ecosystems

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NOAA UAS Applications

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Range of Applications to be Considered – in support of NOAA Requirements

• Hurricane Tracking & Intensity Research: A UAS could either fly above a storm, circumnavigate it or fly within 100 m of the ocean surface without endangering a pilot.

• Fire Weather monitoring: Winds and moisture aloft are critical to fire prediction

• Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Research:– UAS can provide detailed vertical profiles of the atmosphere and ocean

at a large number of fixed points over the globe.– Atmospheric Rivers that result in West Coast floods– Atmospheric Chemistry; global warming gases– Fisheries production and harmful algal blooms– Arctic and Antarctic weather and climate

• GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems): identify role that UAS have in GEOSS - international effort to link all observation systems to give us a tool for understanding how Earth’s systems interact to provide a truly comprehensive coverage

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Range of Applications to be Considered – in support of NOAA Requirements

• Charting and Mapping: Charting the near-shore of the 3.4 million square miles and remote areas (e.g., NWHI Marine National Monument).

• Ecosystem/Habitat/Marine Mammal Support:– Coral Reef mapping: The ability to support spectrally robust

sensors in remote areas for sustained periods.– Marine Mammal mapping: A non-obtrusive instrument for

identifying, tracking, and sighting of marine mammals. – National Marine Sanctuaries: UAS may have numerous

applications for conservation science and enforcement especially in remote areas.

• Fisheries Enforcement: NOAA fisheries enforcement encompasses the entire 3.4 million square miles of the ExclusiveEconomic Zone.

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Types of UAS Being Considered

• High Altitude Long Endurance(HALE): operate at higher altitudes and longer ranges (e.g. Global Hawk, Global Observer)

• Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE): operate at lower altitudes and within line-of-sight (e.g. Predator B)

• Small: portable and able to operate within a few miles of the control station (e.g. Aerosonde)

• Micro – are hand or smaller sized ROAs (six inches maximum) – highly portable

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Field Activities – Altair Demo

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NOAA UAS Demonstration Projects(FY05-06)

Missions• Altair (phase I) – April-May, Nov 2005 (Weather &

Water, Climate, and Ecosystems, with NASA)• Aerosonde – Sept 2005 (Weather & Water, with

NASA)• Silver Fox – Feb 2006 (Ecosystems, with Navy)• Manta – Mar 2006 (Climate, with NASA and NSF)• Altair (phase II) – Sept 2006 (Climate and

Ecosystems, with NASA) 21 hour flight completed• Aerosonde – Sept 2006 (Weather & Water, with

NASA)

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The NOAA Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Altair Demonstration Project (2005)Project Scientists:

David W. FaheyNOAA/ESRL Chemical Sciences Division

Albin J. GasiewskiNOAA-CU Center for Environmental TechnologyUniversity of Colorado

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, 16 Nov. 2005

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Irradiance Sensor

Desiccators

Calibration Bottle

PMVS Scanhead

GC/OZ Unit

GC Inlet Pump

Carrier Bottle

Right Front Iso View

GA Altair Installation

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Topic…

Altair Integrated Package

Included first UAV-based passive microwave vertical sounder sensor

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55 GHz 89 GHz 183 GHz

NOAA-CU CET spectrometer modules with internal fast-switched absolute calibration. Above spectrometers (plus two more under development) provide full AMSU-A/B and NPOESS CMIS and ATMS troposphericsounding compatibility.

Prototype UAV Microwave Vertical Sounder

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Atmospheric Rivers – 14 Day Sequence

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Atmospheric River Sounding Flight- Weak Atm River Penetrated on May 9, 2005 -

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89 GHz

183 GHz

55 GHz

10 um IR

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C

D

A B C D50 K

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Altair Ozone Profiling

Measured ozone (O3) and altitude versus time above Palmdale-Victorville, CA during local high-altitude test flight of Altair on April 19, 2005.

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Ozone - CFC11 & N2O Chemistry

▲Ozone (red) and CFC-11 (black) versus time (UTC) on April 19, 2005, above Palmdale-Victorville, CA. Significant increases in ozone and coincident decreases in CFC-11 were measured as Altair ascended through stratosphere-influenced air masses. Reciprocal changes were measured on descent.

▲Observed anticorrelationsbetween ozone and trace gases CFC11 and N2O.

Ascent Descent

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Sample Ocean Color Spectra

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DCS Mosaic of Anacapa Island- May 7, 2005 -

260 Channel Islands images obtained in clear air~25% of Channel Islands mapping mission goals completed, including first complete mapping of Anacapa Island

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EO/IR Streaming VideoLive streaming video from the WescamEO/IR camera was simultaneously broadcast to NOAA users around the U.S.

◄Sea lion rookery with over 100 members spotted from ~4 km altitude

Applications demonstrated included marine mammal counts, and vessel identification and tracking in the U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries waters.

Container ship observed near NMFS waters at a distance of ~20 km ▼

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ALTAIR UAS (HALE-Class) Demo14-15 November 2005

Courtesy of Mike Aslaksen (NOS) and Sara Summers (OAR/AOML)

Objectives achieved: • Long endurance flight• Surveillance capabilities • NOAA sensors above 45 kft• Coastal remote sensing• Climate & air chemistry

science• Safe integration into the

National Airspace System down to altitudes of 7000 ft

• Establishment of partnershipsacross NOAA, NASA andprivate sector

18.4 hr NOAA mission completed

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Hurricane Demonstration Projects

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Aerosonde UAS Penetration of Tropical Storm Ophelia

16 September, 2005

969696

Satellite image of Tropical Storm Ophelia (intensity = 55 kt), with flight tracks shown:

• Aerosonde (blue)

• WP-3D (red)

Courtesy of Joe Cione andFrank Marks (OAR/AOML)

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NOAA UAS Hurricane Demonstration Plans

FY05: Aerosonde (with NASA)– Tropical cyclone, single mission– Low-altitude, in situ reconnaissance

FY06: Aerosonde (with NASA)– Interagency workshop reached consensus on low-altitude demo– Researchers and NWS Operational Representatives agreed– Hurricane, multiple missions– Low-altitude, in situ reconnaissance and science– Implementation underway at Key West

FY07: HALE Class UAS demo planning– Platform, payload and mission profile selection

FY08: HALE Class UAS field demo– High-altitude, dropsonde and remote sensing reconnaissance and

science

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HURRICANE SCHEMATICHURRICANE SCHEMATIC

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Hurricane Bonnie at LandfallAirborne vs. Satellite Microwave Imagery

PSR/A 10.7H GHz imagery from an aircraft overpass of hurricane Bonnie at 1400-1425 GMT overlaid on 19.4H GHz DMSP F14 SSM/I imagery at 1358 GMT (August 26, 1998).

High-resolution airborne imagery clearly reveals - over a limited region -many submesoscaledetails of rainbandprecipitation structure that are absent in the satellite imagery.

SSM/I19.4H

PSR/A10.7H

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Ecosystems and Climate

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Silver Fox

Silver Fox/Manta Hawaii Demo

Manta

Upolu Airport, Hawaii, HI

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Above Cloud UAV

Below Cloud UAV

In Cloud UAV

Maldives Autonomous UAV Campaign (MAC)

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1979

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2003

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Observations over the Arctic can determine if predicted global warming of Arctic is occurring. Disappearance of the Arctic Ice Cap.

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Example of possible Arctic route:31 dropsonde points from >45K ft.

EILSEN

Improved Arctic Weather and Climate

Search and Rescue

Proposed UAS Base in AlaskaProvides Support for a Broad Range of Platforms, Capabilities, and U.S. NeedsTypes: High, Medium or Low AltitudeSizes: Few pounds to size of a 737Ranges: 1mile to 14,000 miles Endurance: 1 hour to >30 hoursAltitude: Few hundred ft to 65,000ft

Monitor leads and polenya

Small UAS launching from a vessel

High Level UAS can loiter for long periods

Sea Mammal Monitoring

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Research and DevelopmentDropsonde Development

Soil MoistureSnow Water Equivalent

Hurricane Rainband ImagingDamage Assessment

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Some Lessons Learned

• A number of specific NOAA requirements could be met by smaller UAS, while others demand large H(igh Altitude Long Endurance) UAS

• Partnerships are critical (e.g., NASA-NOAA partnership during Altair demos)

• The potential of civilian applications seems to have further inspired the UAS industry to help NOAA explore the civilian UAS market

• Major challenge is coordinating UAS activity with all other manned airborne activity in U.S. airspace.

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SummaryNOAA’s UAS program focuses on the development of

unmanned platforms to suit specific NOAA mission goals in the key areas of:

Hurricane research and track/intensity forecastingFire weather monitoringAtmospheric ocean, and climate researchGEOSSCharting and MappingEcosystems, habitat, and Marine mammal supportFisheries enforcement

High altitude long endurance platforms play a major role in achieving NOAA’s long-term UAS goals.

Studies to demonstrate HALE sensor capabilities are ongoing using Altair and Global Hawk, and potentially others.

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…thanks for your attention

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Questions ?