TAAC 2007, December 06, 2007, Albuquerque1 TAAC 2007 Conference NOAA UAS Applications Sara Summers, NOAA UAS Deputy Project Manager Earth Systems Research

TAAC 2007, December 06, 2007, Albuquerque 1

TAAC 2007 ConferenceTAAC 2007 ConferenceNOAA UAS ApplicationsNOAA UAS Applications

Sara Summers, NOAA UAS Deputy Project ManagerSara Summers, NOAA UAS Deputy Project ManagerEarth Systems Research Laboratory, Boulder ColoradoEarth Systems Research Laboratory, Boulder Colorado


NOAA’s NOAA’s MissionMission NOAA’s NOAA’s MissionMission

To understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal, marine, and Great Lakes’ resources to meet our nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs.


Vision for UAS Vision for UAS Applications in Applications in

NOAANOAA

Vision for UAS Vision for UAS Applications in Applications in

NOAANOAAUnmanned Aircraft Systems will

revolutionize monitoring of the Earth system, much as radar and satellite technology

have done in the past. Critical environmental monitoring needs and requirements remain unmet NOAA will: - accelerate the exploration of this technology for civilian applications - benefit society by improving NOAA’s ability to meet its mission requirements, and - by strengthening US Global Economic Competitiveness in this key emerging technology


UAS Budget UAS Budget SummarySummaryUAS Budget UAS Budget SummarySummary

FY08 President’s Budget $3.3M

Deployment applications in Artic Test Base $0.3M

Accelerate research and development $3.0M

FY08 House Mark $3.3M

Fully supports President’s request

FY08 Senate Mark $6.0M

Supports Artic Test Base $0.3M

Nearly doubles end-to-end initiatives $ 5.7M


Observational GapObservational Gap

GAP between satellites and surface- based sensorsUAS have great potential to fill this gap and take observations to complement our existing platforms


NOAA Is Looking At A Broad Range Of Platforms For Global Information to Fill this Gap

NOAA Is Looking At A Broad Range Of Platforms For Global Information to Fill this Gap



Proposed TestsProposed TestsVision – integrated suite of platforms Vision – integrated suite of platforms

NOAA is planning to test low level and high level UAS over the next few years from the three testbed regions:

2008 - LALE Demonstrations2009 - LALE/HALE Demonstrations2010 - HALE Demonstrations2011 - Go-no-go decision for acquisition based upon testsIf a go, thenHALE acquisitions will be operated by NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)LALE acquisitions will be operated either by OMAO or field programs


Gulf Testbed Applications

Dead Zone(harmful algal blooms)

Oil Platforms

Hurricane Forecasting

Hurricane aftermath Katrina (New Orleans)


2008 Gulf Tests2008 Gulf Tests

Data gap: winds data at low levels of hurricane environment: if NOAA can do a better job improving hurricane intensity forecasts, we can potentially save lives and property. Platform: AerosondeLocation: TBD (this year’s was based out of Key West and Wallops)Partners: - NASA Suborbital Space Group located at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia - Navy: Naval Air Station in Key West, FL (NASKW) - NOAA National Hurricane Center (Miami) - NOAA Key West Weather Forecast Office - AAI/Aerosonde Corporation (WFF)Measurements: low level hurricane windsSensors: IR sensor; Mini BAT probe to measure turbulence


Aerosonde was launched from the NASA Wallops Research Range at 14:08 EST on Friday November 2, 2007.

The mission lasted 17 hours 27 minutes and resulted in approximately 7.5 hours of data collection in the core of the hurricane.

NOAA/NASA Noel Aerosonde UAS mission


NOAA/NASA Noel Aerosonde UAS mission coordinated

with NOAA P-3A NASA chase aircraft escorted the Aerosonde for the first three hours of the mission at a nominal altitude of 4,000 ft. until well offshore, and returned to Wallops when weather conditions deteriorated in closer proximity of the hurricane. The mission continued overnight with Aerosonde being drawn into the core of the hurricane and measuring winds as high as 80 mph.

The Aerosonde UAS approached the center of Noel from the north (black), at around 400 m altitude. At the same time, the P-3 (red) was making a penetration from east to west at around 3500 m altitude. GPS dropwindsondes (blue) were deployed from the P-3.


AerosondeP-3 (3500 m)

Take-off from Wallops Flight Facility

Rendezvous with P-3 at storm center 0525 UTC

KMCF

“Eye” loitering with vertical

soundings (100-1500 m)

Nominal altitude for the Aerosondewas 500 to 2,000 feet.

Courtesy Joe Cione


Arctic Testbed ApplicationsArctic Testbed Applications

Pipeline

Coastal Erosion

Fisheries Enforcement

Transboundary Air Pollution from Asia

Marine and ecosystem Monitoring

Wild FiresWild Fires


2008 Arctic Tests2008 Arctic Tests

Data gap: Arctic observations (satellite and surface) are sparse; improved observations of sea ice and Arctic mammal counts, e.g. ice seals, will give us a clearer indication of rate of ice melt and climate change.Platform: Aerosonde (AAI), Scan Eagle (In Situ)Location:The restricted airspace at Oliktok Point, AK Partners: - NOAA Fisheries, National Marine Mammal Laboratory - University of Alaska, Fairbanks - University of Colorado, Boulder, - Sandia National Laboratories (DOE ARM Program)Measurements: Ice Seals distribution; Sea Ice characteristicsSensors: - Digital still camera (Nikon D2X or D3X)

- Infrared video camera (Helitronics KT11 and TBD ) - Up- and down-looking spectrometers (Ocean Optics USB2000) - laser height measurement system (U. of Colorado UAS Laser Profiling System)


1979


2003


Arctic ice seal abundance and Arctic ice seal abundance and distributiondistributionArctic ice seal abundance and Arctic ice seal abundance and distributiondistribution

Ringed seal Spotted seal

Ribbon sealBearded seal


Proposed Arctic UAS Mission, FY08Proposed Arctic UAS Mission, FY08

Mission justificationDetailed, fine scale measurements of sea ice qualities are needed

to inform climate models to better predict what effects changes in sea ice will have on the Arctic climate

Four species of seals depend on sea ice for resting or breeding; almost nothing is known about these four species, and changes in sea ice will have dramatic effects on their abundance and distribution

Why UAS required? Sea ice: Satellite obs do not provide necessary detailIce seals: Occur throughout the Arctic Ocean; manned aerial

surveys cannot cover the entire range of the four species


2008 Pacific Tests2008 Pacific Tests

Data gap: NOAA wants to improve its understanding of the characteristics of and moisture transport within atmospheric rivers to help improve precipitation

and flood forecasts along the west coast of the US. Platform: Manta (Advanced Ceramics Research)Location: Barking Sands (PMRF), Hawaii Partners: - NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory - NOAA Ocean Service - Scripps Institute of Oceanography Measurements: Water Vapor Sensors: - Advanced aircraft motion package: High rate aircraft attitude required for flux measurement

- KH20 Krypton Hygrometer: fast measurements of water vapor fluctuations - Met package: high rate temperature and pressure - Gust probe - Condensation particle counter: aerosol concentration for measurement of aerosol flux


Pacific Testbed Applications (35% of earth’s surface)

Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument: world’s largest marine sanctuary and one of the most pristine marine ecosystems in the world, nearly untouched by humans. 1,400 long and home to more than 7,000 species, many seen nowhere else in the world

Pacific TyphoonPacific Typhoon(August 7, 2006)(August 7, 2006)

Ghost Nets,Ghost Nets,Marine DebrisMarine Debris

Atmospheric RiverAtmospheric River


Atmospheric Rivers and FloodingAtmospheric Rivers and Flooding

Between1997 to the present, all 7 flooding events on the Russian River corresponded to the presence of atmospheric rivers

Atmosphericriver


Motivation Motivation

La Conchita CA, 10 Jan 2005

White River in Oregon, 7 November 2006

Photo courtesy of Doug Jones


20 hr

~10,000 km transects

75-100 km dropsonde spacing

10-15 sondes/transect

15 hr

# transects determined by range/endurance and dropsonde capacity


Summary Summary Unmanned Vehicle Systems can fill large monitoring and prediction gaps.

Unmanned Vehicle Systems can help NOAA advance its observational capabilities, thereby improving the services it provides to the Nation.

FY 08 is an important budgetary year in that NOAA will be able to get the program started.


http://UAS.noaa.gov

[email protected] - NOAA UAS Project Manager - NOAA UAS Project Manager

[email protected] - Deputy Project Manager - Deputy Project Manager

[email protected] - UAS Flight Operations, COAs - UAS Flight Operations, COAs

NOAA UAS Project ContactsNOAA UAS Project Contacts

http://uas.noaa.gov/

mailto:[email protected]




QUESTIONS ?QUESTIONS ?

Documents

TAAC 2007, December 06, 2007, Albuquerque1 TAAC 2007 Conference NOAA UAS Applications Sara Summers, NOAA UAS Deputy Project Manager Earth Systems Research