THE COLLABORATIVE COLORADO– NEBRASKA UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM EXPERIMENT

Authors

Adam L. Houston, University of Nebraska—LincolnFollow
Brian Argrow, University of Colorado-BoulderFollow
Jack Elston, University of Colorado-Boulder
Jamie Lahowetz, University of Nebraska—LincolnFollow
Eric W. Frew, University of Colorado-Boulder
Patrick C. Kennedy, Colorado State University-Fort Collins

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

7-2011

Citation

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Volume 93, Issue 1 (January 2012) pp. 39-54

Comments

Copyright 2012 American Meteorological Society

Abstract

Unmanned aircraft (UA) can provide observations of atmospheric phenomena that are either difficult or impossible to obtain with existing platforms. It is for this reason that facilitating the maturation of this relatively new technology has become a high priority in the atmospheric sciences. This position is reflected in the 2007 National Research Council Decadal Survey, which states that unmanned aircraft technology “should be increasingly factored into the nation’s strategic plan for Earth science” (National Research Council 2007, p. 14). Moreover, the fiscal year 2008 budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) featured an increased investment in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS¹— that is, the aircraft along with the communications and logistics infrastructure required for their operation) to “evaluate the benefits and potential of using UAS” (NOAA 2008, p vi).