In 2025, NOAA’s Uncrewed Systems Operations Center funded 10 projects to facilitate breakthroughs for NOAA with uncrewed systems. These projects aim to develop uncrewed systems capabilities with broad applications across NOAA missions, acquire data from otherwise inaccessible or data-sparse regions, integrate NOAA’s growing fleet of uncrewed systems, and identify other mission critical applications.
Building on past innovation through partnership, each selected project will work with U.S. academic institutions to meet its objectives. Such partnerships have proven to be valuable collaborations, developing cutting edge applications of uncrewed systems, while advancing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Collectively, 12 academic institutions across the United States are involved.
“U.S. academic institutions are excellent partners for NOAA when it comes to testing rapidly advancing technologies to meet NOAA mission needs. Through our partnerships with them in past funding opportunities we have operationalized numerous uncrewed systems and seen the benefit it can have for NOAA”, said Lisa Nakamura, Uncrewed Systems Operations Center acting director. “I look forward to seeing what this cycle of funded projects accomplishes.”
Projects funded in this cycle use uncrewed systems across NOAA mission areas. Example work includes assessing the impact of uncrewed systems data in NOAA’s hurricane forecasting, supporting marine mammal assessments using uncrewed aircraft and uncrewed marines systems, operationalizing uncrewed aircraft to gather weather observations, and adapting an uncrewed aircraft for beyond visual line of sight operations in marine clouds. Many projects build on prior investments by the Uncrewed Systems Operations Center to operationalize uncrewed systems in support of NOAA missions.
Projects were submitted through an internal NOAA process and reviewed by subject matter experts. The 10 selected projects were part of a pool of 33 proposals totaling $32 million. Each project will receive financial and project management support from the Uncrewed Systems Operations Center over a three-year period.
2025 Selected Projects
Project: Automating Aerial Image Processing and Analysis with Artificial Intelligence
Academic Partners: University of Washington
Program: NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
Project: Operationalizing Adaptable Weather Uncrewed Aircraft Technologies into the National Airspace System for the National Weather Service
Academic Partners: Oklahoma State University, Virginia Tech
Program: National Weather Service, Weather Forecast Office - Tulsa
Project: Integration of High-frequency Acoustics with Seaglider for Long-duration Offshore Ecosystem Monitoring Applications
Academic Partners: University of Miami, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Program: NOAA Research, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
Project: Evaluating Uncrewed Aircraft Payloads for Mapping Bathymetry and River Flow in Riverine Salmon Habitats
Academic Partners: Oregon State University
Program: NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Project: Expanding Understanding of Uncrewed Aircraft Observation Impacts on Regional Weather Prediction Tools Using Simulated Experiments
Academic Partners: University of Colorado, University of Nebraska Lincoln
Program: NOAA Research, Global Systems Laboratory
Project: Assessment of the Impact of Joint Uncrewed System Tropical Cyclone Atmospheric and Ocean Observations in NOAA's Operational Hurricane Analysis and Forecasting System
Academic Partners: University of Miami
Program: NOAA Research, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
Project: Expanding Capabilities for Tag Deployment on Marine Mammals using Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
Academic Partners: Duke University
Program: NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Fisheries Science Center
Project: CopterSonde LAAIRS: Laboratory for Advanced Atmospheric Investigation using Robotic Sondes
Academic Partners: University of Oklahoma, University of Washington
Program: NOAA Research, National Severe Storms Laboratory
Project: Adaptation of a Hybrid Vertical-Take-Off-and Landing Fixed Wing Uncrewed Aircraft for Flight in the Marine Atmosphere
Academic Partners: University of Washington
Program: NOAA Research, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Project: Improving NOAA Forecasts by Advancing the Capabilities of Uncrewed Aircraft to Sample Tropical Cyclones from the Ocean Surface to the Stratosphere
Academic Partners: University of Miami, Embry Riddle
Program: NOAA Research, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory