Ocean Science www.ocean-sci.net 1812-0784 1812-0792 6 3 2010 10.5194/os-6-615-2010 http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/615/2010/ http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/615/2010/os-6-615-2010.html http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/615/2010/os-6-615-2010.pdf 615 619 2010-07-01 Technical Note: A low cost unmanned aerial vehicle for ship based science missions E. Waugh edwaugh@soton.ac.uk M. Mowlem National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK A low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is compared with those already available and the motivation for its development is established. It is targeted at ship-based science missions and potential applications are described including a specific science case to measure white capping in the deep ocean. The current vehicle includes a range of more than 1000 Km, carrying a payload of 2 Kg and it can be launched and recovered from a coastal research vessel. The vehicle has flown successfully in Force 4 gusting Force 6–7 wind conditions, an important requirement for operation at sea. Data analysis is performed on images captured by the vehicle to provide a measurement of wave period and white capping fraction. The next stage of the project is to develop a suitable payload and perform a demonstration science mission. Anguelova, M. D. and Webster, F.: Whitecap coverage from satellite measurements: A first step toward modeling the variability of oceanic whitecaps, J. Geophys. Res., 111, doi:10.1029/2005JC003158, 2006. Bennett, M.: Development of technologies for low-cost oceanographic uavs, Doctorate of Engineering, Electronics Computer Science, University of Southampton, 2007. Callaghan, A. H. and White, M.: Automated processing of sea surface images for the determination of whitecap coverage, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 26, 383–394, 2009. Gull uav capabilities: http://www.centaurseaplane.com/gull/capabilities.htm, 2007. Curry, J. A., Maslanik, J., Holland, G., and Pinto, J.: Applications of aerosondes in the arctic, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 85, 1855–1861, 2004. Holland, G. J.: The aerosonde robotic aircraft: A new paradigm for environmental observations, Bull. Am. Meterol. Soc., 82, 889–902, 2001. Scaneagle/seascan uav specifications: http://www.insitu.com/prod_scaneagle.cfm, 2007. Lin, P.-H. and Lee, C.-S.: The eyewall-penetration reconnaissance observation of typhoon longwang (2005) with unmanned aerial vehicle, aerosonde, J. Atmos. Ocean. Techn., 25, 15–25, 2008. Lomax, A. S., Corso, W., and Etro, J. F.: Employing unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs) as an element of the integrated ocean observing system, OCEANS, Proceedings of MTS/IEEE, 181, 184–190, 2005. McGeer, T. and Holland, G. J.: Small autonomous aircraft for economical oceanographic observations on a wide scale, The magazine of the Oceanography Society, 6, 129–135, 1993. Melville, W. K. and Matusov, P.: Distribution of breaking waves at the ocean surface, Nature, 417, 58–63, 2002. Moat, B. I., Yelland, M. J., and Pascal, R. W.: Oceanic whitecap coverage measured during uk-solas cruises, 16th Conference on Air-Sea Interaction, Phoenix, USA, 2009, Peterson, D. L., Brass, J. A., Smith, W. H., Langford, G. S. W., Dunagan, S., Hammer, P., and Snook, K.: Platform options for free flying-satellites, uavs or the iss for remote sensing assesment of the littoral zone, Int. J. Remote Sens., 24, 2785–2804, 2003. Pluck, G., Waugh, E., Gilbertson, R., Hoen-Teng, L., Roberts, S., McKinley, M., and Hatts, D.: An unmanned aerial vehicle for oceanographic applications, Masters of Engineering, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, UK, 2003. Uavs: Out of uniform: http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/categories/military/779.html, 2004.