ESRL Participates in Gulf Region UAS Application Conference
Scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory as well as other line offices attended the Gulf Region UAS Applications Conference, April 1, 2008 in Biloxi, Mississippi. This conference, sponsored by the Northern Gulf Institute at Mississippi State University, brought together key scientists and officials from academia and government to follow up on discussions from a 2007 Stakeholders Workshop. The group's goal was to identify and prioritize technical requirements and begin planning to move the Gulf-based program forward.
The Gulf of Mexico region faces some of the most pressing environmental issues of our day, including hurricanes, hypoxia, wetland loss, ecosystem degradation, and water quality. To protect and enhance ecosystem and community resiliency, science must go beyond the current state of the art in collecting critical data from the oceans and atmosphere. One of the emerging sensor platforms that have the potential to be truly disruptive technology is Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
NOAA's UAS involvement in this conference supports and promotes best practices in climate change research, Earth observations, weather and water resources forecasting, and ecosystems monitoring and management.
Contact information
Name: Sara Summers
Tel: 303-497-4221
Sara.Summers@noaa.gov