21 Connections and synergies Rather than developing its own uncrewed systems, NOAA works primarily with the private sector, he says, so that when someone in the administration comes to him with a mission to sample the top of the atmosphere, for example, and thinks they can do it with an uncrewed system, he can connect them with companies and academic institutions that can help. “We work very closely with industry to keep up to speed on the latest developments and help people in NOAA become aware of new capabilities coming along, and to see if there is a way to apply them to their missions.” An important part of this is looking for overlaps and potential synergies between different projects. “Say two people in the agency are both using UASs to take images, with one interested in studying sea turtles and the other in assessing the damage from tornadoes or other severe events,” he says. “They might not know there’s an overlap in what they’re doing, even though they’re both thinking of ways to increase their capability to use the information, so bringing those groups together and seeking ways to foster greater capabilities through collaboration within and outside the agency is crucial. “We support many partnerships with people across the agency, and through cooperative r&d agreements the government can partner with companies to test out things they’re developing that might work for our purposes. That helps spur their development and application in the government.” Dr Cole leads a team of four at the UxSTRO to support project management through acquisitions, contracting, science, r&d, selecting projects to fund and going through the funding process, he explains. He characterises the process of choosing which projects to fund as very formal, with subject matter experts reviewing all the proposals and ranking them based on established criteria. Next, a smaller team goes over the written reviews to assess which best match high-priority NOAA missions, with a final expert review then ranking those left according to which are most likely to produce useful results. Atmospheric sampling At the moment, NOAA is supporting projects such as the High-altitude Operational Returning Unmanned System (Horus) atmospheric sample collection glider. Horus is a new element of an ongoing multi-phase project run from the Global Monitoring Lab in Colorado, whose mission is to study and monitor greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the long term, right up to the top of the atmosphere. “It’s really hard to get to the top of the atmosphere and take a sample, because it’s 95,000 ft up – practically in space,” Dr Cole says. The lab has developed a device called the AirCore atmospheric sampling system for a weather balloon to carry to the top of the atmosphere before bursting, releasing the device to descend under a parachute and take its sample. While the parachute reliably brings the AirCore down safely, where it lands is dictated by the winds during its descent, which can deposit it up to 100 miles from the launch point. The Horus was developed to solve that recovery problem, carrying two AirCores internally, spiralling down under autopilot control and landing as near to the chosen spot as possible. The system completed its first mission with a full scientific payload in May this year. Sample return is critical to data quality. “There are lightweight sensors that can take in-situ measurements of the chemicals the lab is interested in, but Dr Bryan Cole | In conversation We support many partnerships with people in the agency, and the government can partner with firms totest things they’re developing Uncrewed Systems Technology | December/January 2024 The Meteodrone hexacopter contributes boundary-layer atmospheric data to NOAA’s National Weather Service 6-hourly forecasts. Similar UAVs could be integrated with ground-based networks (Courtesy of Meteomatics)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4