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Aerosonde Successfully Completes Weatherscout GUAM Trials
Norman OK (SPX) Dec 02, 2005 Aerosonde North America is pleased to announce the success of the recent deployment of Aerosonde meteorological observation aircraft to the US Air Force (USAF) in Guam during October through November 2005. Designated the "Weatherscout UAV" Program, Aerosonde was put through extensive long range weather observation trials under the supervision of AFOTEC (Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Centre), JTWC ( Joint Typhoon Warning Centre) and PACAF( Pacific Airforce) during the trial. Aerosonde system tallied up a total of 282 flight hours in less than 30 days. This included long-endurance missions exceeding 24 h with multiple aircraft. The "Weatherscout UAV" program was designated Foreign Comparatively Test (FCT) utilising commercially available technology. The Aerosonde was deployed to track Typhoons, and severe weather conditions in the Western Pacific, whilst providing high resolution data in near real-time to testing facilities at AFOTEC New Mexico, JTWC in Hawaii and AFWA in Omaha. "The ability to reliably demonstrate and maintain endurance of more than 24 hours over a number of days with multiple aircraft operations, was crucial to the success of the Aerosonde program in Guam" said Aerosonde North America President Greg Holland. Aerosonde had already demonstrated it toughness and survivability with the first ever UAV flight into Hurricane Ophelia on the 16th September 2005 off the United States East Coast for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This flight demonstrated Aerosonde's capacity to collect data at low altitudes where it is deemed too dangerous for conventional manned assets. Shortly thereafter, the Department of Atmospheric Sciences of National Taiwan University, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) and the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology also accomplished the first ever UAV typhoon mission. This mission included an eye penetration of Super Typhoon Longwang and encountered wind speeds in excess of 150 mph. "The Weatherscout will improve the Air Force's and Guam's ability to track typhoons and to understand their development. I am pleased with the arrival of the UAV for initial testing," said Congresswoman Bordallo from Guam. "I am sure that the Weatherscout UAV will prove itself in this testing and will warrant full funding and fielding." "Stationing the Weatherscout on Guam would give the Pacific Air Force Command a weather data collection capacity it needs and currently lacks," Bordallo continued, "This capacity would significantly help military and civil communities prepare at the earliest stages of typhoon development and thus enable the saving of lives and money." "As a former Guam resident and typhoon forecaster, I'm pleased to see the weather-scout UAV requirements the Air Force developed appear to have been met or exceeded by the capabilities of the Aerosonde system," said Joel Martin, a retired Air Force Colonel and former director of Pacific Air Force Weather Programs. Martin is now Associate Vice President for Information Commerce at the University of Oklahoma. Major Mark Feingold, Special Programs, Reconnaissance Systems Wing, Wright Patterson AFB was pleased to note that "the team effort by Aerosonde, Air Force Program Managers and Testers, and the support from Anderson AFB made this program a great success." Aerosonde is pleased to acknowledge the vision and efforts by the Project Managers and Testers at Hickam and Wright Patterson AFT in enabling the opportunity to show that a small UAV has the capacity to undertake missions in one of the most hostile environments. Aerosonde would like to also acknowledge the assistance shown to the program from NASA's Cheryl Yuhas and her continued commitment to utilizing small UAVs as an effective earth science investigative tool. Special mention to Dr John Campbell and his Team who facilitated phase one of the program at the NASA Wallops facility in Virginia USA. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application
New Legislation Initiated To Support Commercial Remote Sensing Industry
New York NY (SPX) Jan 11, 2006The importance of remotely sensed data and technologies to support natural disasters has prompted attention and action in Washington. New initiatives and legislation authorizing appropriations to the remote sensing industry will be discussed at Strategic Research Institute's U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Industry conference, scheduled for February 9-10, 2006 in Washington D.C. |
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