Marine Operations Center, Pacific
The Marine Operations Center, Pacific, is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Fleet Vessel Operations and Support facility. The marine center is located on Lake Union, in the heart of Seattle, Washington.
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Seattle Navy League “Adopts” NOAA’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific
In a move intended to give the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific greater visibility and support among local citizenry and officials, the Seattle Council of the Navy League has “adopted” the NOAA center.
Council President William C. Larson presented an adoption plaque to Capt. Michele G. Bullock, NOAA, commanding officer of NOAA’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific, at an Oct. 16 ceremony at the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle. The ceremony was attended by local dignitaries who included Congressional representatives as well as admirals and operational commands from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.
“This gives us the chance to support the NOAA operations center and officers, thank them for their service, and keep the civilian sector in Seattle informed about what they are doing,” Larson said. “So often the contributions of the uniformed services aren’t noticed unless tragedy strikes and they are seen in action.”
In August this year, the Navy League also adopted Okeanos Explorer when the NOAA ship dedicated to ocean exploration was commissioned in Seattle.
Larson said the Navy League will recognize personnel from the marine center and ship for exemplary achievements on an ongoing basis. He also expects to host special events and conduct background briefings at high levels as a liaison with NOAA maritime staff, the Seattle business community, and elected officials.
“We at the Marine Center are very grateful to the Navy League for its support of NOAA. Through this adoption, I hope to have enhanced networking opportunities to get the word out to the community and beyond about what we do and how we do it,” Bullock said.
NOAA’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific is located on Lake Union in Seattle. It supports NOAA’s Pacific fleet of nine fisheries research, oceanographic research, and hydrographic survey ships operating out of Seattle, San Diego, Honolulu, as well as Kodiak and Ketchikan in Alaska. The ships acquire data that support NOAA’s mission to understand and predict changes in Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs.
The Navy League was founded in 1903 to support the sea services. The Seattle Council of 600 members bridges the gap between the civilian sector and the uniformed services in the nation’s door to the north Pacific.
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Signing ceremony adopting Marine Operations Center - Pacific to the Navy League. L to R Front row: William C. Larson, President, Seattle Council - Navy League of the U.S.; Captain Michele G. Bullock, Commanding Officer Marine Operations Center-Pacific; Thomas E. Jaffa, CTP, Vice President Seattle Council - Navy League of the U.S L to R Back row: Diane Zakalik Jaffa, Executive Director, Seattle Council - Navy League of the U.S; Captain Michael Devany, Executive Officer, Marine Operations Center - Pacific |
Unmanned Aircraft Launched from NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
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.
”We are particularly interested in using this new technology in the Arctic, where we urgently need better data in very remote locations,” said Robyn Angliss, Deputy Director of NOAA’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and a lead scientist for the Arctic testbed of NOAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program.
“We have long envisioned unmanned aircraft as the best technology to use to assess the abundance and distribution of ribbon, bearded, spotted, and ringed seals” added Josh London, the project’s chief scientist from NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “Ice seals range so broadly and so far from shore that surveying the full range of these populations using traditional manned aircraft is challenging.”
National Marine Mammal Laboratory - Dyson UAS Test Flights
The NOAA Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Program achieved a significant milestone on 15-16 October when three successful flights of a UAS were conducted off the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson within restricted airspace in Puget Sound, Washington. The Unmanned Aerial System used was the ScanEagle™, developed by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
The ScanEagle was launched from the top deck of the Oscar Dyson using a pneumatic catapult and recovered on a vertical line strung between the starboard crane and a lower boom extended out over the water. A clip at the end of either wing captures the line on contact. The aircraft has a 10-ft wingspan and weighs around 40 pounds when loaded with camera equipment and fuel. It can fly for 20 hours on 2 gallons of fuel and cruises between 45 and 70 knots.
Because this was the first launch and recovery of a UAS from the Oscar Dyson, great care was taken to prepare for the flights. A test dummy was first launched from the ship and retrieved from the water by a small boat. A test dummy was also hung from the recovery system to provide training and practice for the deck crew who were responsible for safely bringing the aircraft aboard after each flight.
Rest of the story, with pictures and videos
UAF unmanned aircraft program soars to new heights
FAIRBANKS — Meet Martha.
She is the darling of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ unmanned aircraft program at Poker Flat Research Range.
She can fly up to 20 hours at a time, is equipped with video and camera equipment powerful enough to identify a person from a mile away but remains lightweight and compact enough to fit in a large suitcase.
She cost the university $100,000 and researchers are trying to prove she is worth every penny — and more — by finding uses for her beyond the most common use of unmanned aircraft — military reconnaissance.
Next spring, the aircraft will be used to help scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration count, capture and study seals in the Bering Sea. The plane will take high-resolution photographs of seals on the pack ice and direct seal-hunting biologists to their prey so the seals can be fitted with radio transmitters.
The Marine Operations Center, Pacific, supports the following ships: