Verizon, NOAA Partner to Use Drones in Critical Imagery Gathering During Disasters

Verizon Frontline announced that it has entered into a three-year cooperative research and development agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop new innovative approaches to accelerate the deployment of uncrewed aircraft systems during natural calamities.

Under the partnership, Verizon will be supplying the UAS platform, sensors and manpower needed to collect aerial imagery of NOAA-identified storm-damaged areas. The two organizations aim to accelerate NOAA’s ability to conduct post-storm damage assessments, Verizon said. 

Michael Adams, associate vice president for federal civilian services at Verizon, said that the partnership aims to create new strategies for gathering and disseminating needed imagery, fueled by the company’s extensive capabilities and experience.

The partnership is not the first initiative from the U.S. weather agency to improve its natural disaster response capabilities. In 2022, NOAA tapped Acme AtronOmatic to improve the MyRadar weather and environmental intelligence app under a research and development contract to help with wildfire detection.