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23 May 2006
Chemical Sciences Division David W. Fahey is lead author, and several scientists from CSD are coauthors, on an article in the May 16 issue of EOS Transactions, a publication of the American Geophysical Union. The paper is titled "Altair unmanned aircraft system achieves demonstration goals."
Background: The article describes the November 2005 demonstration of the Altair unmanned aircraft in flights based out of southern California. The flights were a NOAA-initiated demonstration project, undertaken cooperatively with NASA and private-sector partner General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. The aircraft can fly for as much as 20 hours, reaching altitudes of 13-15 kilometers. During the demonstration last fall, a flight duration of 18.5 hours was achieved and atmospheric data were collected from both remote and in-situ instruments onboard the aircraft.
Significance: NOAA is looking to the Unmanned Aircraft System technology as a key approach for meeting scientific and operational objectives in the future. The UAS platform can conceivably access environments that are otherwise inaccessible by other means. The range of scientific issues that could be tackled include climate change, weather prediction, atmospheric and oceanic research, ecosystem monitoring, and water resources management.
