NOAA Tracks Wildlife, Maritime Debris in Joint UAS Ops First

NOAA Corps Lt. Junior Grade Nick Morgan affixes the Puma AE’s wings before launching it offshore the North Olympic Peninsula in Washington. AUVSI photo.

 By Danielle Lucey



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spearheaded a new method for observing wildlife this month off the shore of the North Olympic Peninsula in Washington, using two unmanned aircraft to jointly perform nearshore and offshore operations.



The mission is part of an effort by NOAA to survey the area of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary to get population information on marine wildlife and to search for maritime debris, such as fishing nets and items that may have drifted over from Japan after the tsunami. 



NOAA is flying the two aircraft, an AeroVironment Puma AE and a Microdrones md4-1000 quadcopter, and their sensors on certificates of authorization they’ve obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration that cover all their nearshore operations. This mission marks the first time NOAA has operated on a COA obtained solely by the agency.



This mission is also the first NOAA field test of the quadcopter. The team has used the Puma in the past in surveys offshore Key West, Fla., and the Channel Islands, Calif., but this was the very first time the agency used the two aircraft in a joint mission. 



“This mission is huge,” says Lt. Cmdr. Jason Mansour. 



Mansour is the lead for the operations of the unmanned aircraft. Based out of MacDill AFB in Florida, Mansour is part of a four-man team from NOAA Corps that oversees the two aircraft, ensuring they are used safely and to manage expectations. 



“There’s a lot at stake in these joint operations,” he says. “And we want to make sure that future clients know what the strengths and the weaknesses are of these platforms.”



The COAs call for visual line of sight operations, not an easy task in the very rainy, foggy climate offered by the Pacific Northwest. The certificate covers an area that stretches well beyond NOAA’s planned survey area, says Todd Jacobs who had worked on NOAA’s UAS program since its inception nearly 10 years ago. The COAs span all the way up the coast to the Canadian border, 100 miles away. The mission area is limited by a wilderness designation along the coastal strip of Olympic National Park. 



The aircraft must also be operated by trained manned aircraft pilots, a requirement filled by Mansour’s NOAA Corps team. The team also cannot fly over the national park land in the area, because unmanned aircraft are currently prohibited from wilderness-designated land. 




Performing Operations



The week of 24 June marked second week of the team’s operations. The group was able to perform the joint survey the first week, but the second week has brought more difficult operation conditions, with high winds and very choppy water. 



On 24 June, the quadcopter performed a nearshore survey further down the Pacific Coast at Point Grenville. Meanwhile, the other half of the team is operating the Puma off NOAA research vessel Tatoosh, harbored in La Push, Wash.



Offshore, living on jagged sea stacks that tower over the water, are marine birds, including a mix of common murre and three species of cormorants that have had population issues in recent years. Occasionally, the aircraft will also spot a tufted puffin. 



The team took the research vessel (which holds 11 people) about 30 minutes offshore, battling a mix of conditions that lilted the 38-foot Tatoosh like a jet ski. Once out by the stacks, the NOAA Corps operating crew assembled and performed checks on the Puma before hand-launching it toward the coast. 



Once airborne, the Puma circled the stacks, allowing researchers to first capture video of the area. When a location seemed more valuable, NOAA mission chief scientist Ed Bowlby would ask the two operators to circle the Puma back around to take high-resolution stills of the bird population.



Bowlby says they are testing to see if they can use the aircraft to identify different bird species. This is easier with the murres and puffins, which have distinctive features and markings. The three species of cormorants, however, all have a body full of black feathers and are more challenging. 



Bowlby selects areas of interest from a video feed that is being downloaded to both his and one of the operator’s screens. Multiple passes are important so any birds in areas like crevasses can be double checked. 



After a few circles around the jagged rock formations, the operations team called the Puma back in, before a nearby squall could come into the area. Winds were already high at 15 knots, and the team will not fly Puma over 20 knots.



The aircraft landed as planned in the water, and the team recovered the aircraft, which has orange highlighted wings so NOAA can keep better visual tabs on its location. The aircraft intentionally breaks apart upon landing, with a tether that keeps the pieces together, but today the aircraft landed in one piece — a softer landing that is sometimes the case when it is flying in high winds, says Jacobs. 



NOAA will continue its operations through the end of the week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which NOAA is collaborating with on the mission, wants to compare the findings of the mission to helicopter surveys it is performing in July along the same National Wildlife Refuge Islands.



“We’ll be looking, comparing photos to photos to see,” says Bowlby. “The idea is if this shows we can get the same information, it obviously makes economic sense to start doing unmanned surveys versus the expensive helicopter surveys.”