NOAA Developing Unmanned Systems Operations Program

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is devising the Unmanned Systems Operations Program, an effort aimed at promoting the safe and efficient use of unmanned systems.

Rear Adm. Michael Silah, director of NOAA’s Commissioned Officer Corps and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, said the program will allow the agency to transform UxS vehicles into operational platforms to be deployed for collecting environmental data.

The OMAO-led program will cover UxS training, cybersecurity and acquisition, Fedscoop reported Thursday.

The NOAA developed the program using a $12.7M funding appropriated by Congress for the expansion of UxS use.

The program builds on NOAA’s decades-long UxS vehicles usage, which the agency has expanded tenfold since 2012. The agency has been using UxS vehicles for seafloor mapping, counting marine mammal and fish populations, responding to emergencies and helping forecast events like toxic algae blooms.