Missions

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UH Mānoa Studies Ocean Chemistry Around Hawaiian Islands with USVs
Missions

Researchers are working to assess how climate change and ocean acidification are impacting Hawaii’s coastal environment.

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Closing Ocean Exploration Gaps in Remote Waters
Missions

The Saildrone Surveyor, the world’s largest uncrewed ocean mapping vehicle, has mapped more than 45,000 square kilometers (17,375 square miles) of previously unexplored ocean floor during a months-long survey around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and off the coast of California.

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Saildrone Recovered in Luderitz, Namibia, After Science Mission in the Southern Ocean
Missions

SD 1067 spent six months collecting climate science data in the Southern Ocean as part of the international Southern Ocean Carbon and Heat Impact on Climate project.

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USGS Uses Advanced Technologies to Improve Fisheries Assessments on Lake Superior
Missions

Given the economic and cultural value of the Lake Superior fishery, it’s more important than ever to provide fishery managers with accurate data to monitor native fish populations to sustainably manage the $7B Great Lakes fishery.

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Here’s What it Looks Like Inside Hurricane Fiona
Missions

Saildrone Explorer SD 1078 is battling 50-foot waves and winds measured over 100 mph inside the Cat 4 hurricane.

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National Data Buoy Center Deploys Saildrones to the Gulf of Mexico
Missions

Two Saildrone Explorers are collecting data in the Gulf of Mexico to mitigate a weather buoy outage.

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Ocean Drones Sail the Great Lakes to Support Sustainable Fisheries
Missions

Two Saildrone Explorers will collect data in Lake Superior to improve fish counts, monitor environmental health, and help to protect native fish species.

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One Year at Sea: Advancing Ocean Data Collection in the Atlantic
Missions

SD 1079 spent 370 days at sea collecting CO2 data in a remote area of the Tropical Atlantic to improve global carbon projections and more sustainably manage ocean resources.

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Sailing (Back) into the Eye of the Hurricane
Missions

Saildrone and NOAA are launching seven wind-powered ocean drones to collect data inside hurricanes in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

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Saildrone’s Atlantic Hurricane Mission Recognized as Story of the Year
Missions

NOAA, The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, the Weather Channel, and Popular Mechanics have named the Atlantic hurricane mission one of the most important stories of 2021.

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Improving Long-Range Weather Forecasting & Global Carbon Models with Autonomous Vehicles
Missions

A group of Saildrone Explorers were deployed from Newport, RI, to build the largest ever set of wintertime weather and carbon data in the Gulf Stream.

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Studying the Ocean in (Vertical) Motion
Missions

NASA’s S-MODE experiment leveraged instruments of the sea and sky to study how small-scale ocean dynamics impact Earth’s climate system.

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Inside the Eye of the Storm: Saildrone Collects Live Video of Category 4 Hurricane
Missions

Saildrone Explorer SD 1045 is collecting valuable ocean data about how hurricanes intensify for NOAA.

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Saildrone Launches First Freshwater Mission in the Great Lakes
Missions

Two Saildrone Explorers were deployed from Macatawa, MI, to collect fisheries data in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron on behalf of the USGS Great Lakes Science Center.

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Saildrone Surveyor Completes Its First Ocean Crossing from San Francisco to Hawaii
Missions

Following this successful proof of concept voyage, Saildrone will build a fleet of Surveyors, manufactured at US shipyards, to map Earth’s oceans in the next 10 years.

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Sailing into the Eye of the Storm
Missions

In partnership with NOAA, Saildrone is going storm chasing in the Tropical Atlantic to collect data where it’s never been collected before—inside a hurricane.

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Ocean Drone Makes Landfall in Australia after 718 Days Sailing the Southern Ocean
Missions

SD 1023 was one of three saildrones deployed as part of the 2019 Antarctic Circumnavigation that sought new scientific insights in the Southern Ocean.

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USVs Complete Milestone Alaska Fisheries Survey
Missions

Data collected by a fleet of Saildrone unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) will inform this year’s Alaska pollock fish stock assessment.

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Saildrone Fleet Completes First Arctic Mapping Mission
Missions

Four saildrones sailed 8,000 nautical miles round trip from San Francisco to the Canadian border to collect bathymetry data off Alaska’s North Slope.

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Ocean Mapping Mission Starts Off Alaska’s North Slope
Missions

Saildrone’s Arctic fleet has begun to map the 20-meter and 50-meter contour lines from Point Hope to the Canadian border.

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Atlantic to Med: An Historic 5,000+ Nautical Mile Voyage for Science
Missions

Two autonomous wind-powered vehicles sailed from Cabo Verde to Trieste, Italy, demonstrating how fit-for-purpose technology can be used to increase ocean observation.

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Tropical Atlantic Mission Wraps Up After 6 Months at Sea
Missions

Two saildrones have been collecting data about air-sea interactions in a productive region of the western Tropical Atlantic on behalf of NOAA.

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Autonomous Alaska Pollock Survey Begins in the Bering Sea
Missions

Three Saildrone USVs have begun a 60-day acoustic survey on behalf of NOAA Fisheries after transiting more than 2,000 nautical miles from San Francisco to the Bering Sea.

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Mapping the Arctic Seafloor Using Autonomous Vehicles
Missions

This first-of-its-kind acoustic bathymetry mission will test the ability of Saildrone USVs to map the US exclusive economic zone off Alaska’s North Slope.

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Saildrone to Perform Alaska Pollock Survey Amid COVID-19 Lockdown
Missions

With upcoming ship-based surveys in Alaska canceled due to the global health crisis, NOAA Fisheries has turned to Saildrone to collect data to support the sustainable management of America’s largest fishery.

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Studying Tropical Air-Sea Interactions in the Atlantic
Missions

Five saildrones deployed from Barbados observed ocean-atmosphere interactions at the sub-mesoscale improve climate models and weather prediction.

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Saildrones Complete First Unmanned Passage of Strait of Gibraltar
Missions

SD 1030 and SD 1053 reverse the path of the ancient mariners, entering the Mediterranean Sea through the Pillars of Hercules.

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Surveying Commercially Important Fish Stocks in the North Sea
Missions

Two saildrones spent more than 200 days surveying sandeel, saithe, and herring off the coast of Bergen in partnership with Norway’s Institute of Marine Research.

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Saildrone Atlantic Fleet Studies Tropical Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions
Missions

Five saildrones were deployed from Barbados to join the EUREC4A/ATOMIC project, a massive international effort using air, space, surface, and sub-surface platforms to improve climate models and weather prediction.

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Sailing Over the Ice Edge
Missions

The 5th annual Arctic mission, in partnership with NOAA and NASA, took a fleet of saildrones to a new frontier—the Arctic ice edge—to improve sea ice prediction and satellite algorithm development.

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Building an Ecological Baseline in the Central Pacific Ahead of Deep-Sea Mining
Missions

The 30-day mission supported by a Saildrone Award studies the behavior and environmental influencers of small fishes, squids, and crustaceans in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

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Saildrones Work with Ships for 2nd Time During NOAA Fisheries West Coast Surveys
Missions

The 60-day Saildrone effort to assess stocks of Pacific hake and five coastal pelagic species was carried out in two sub-missions extending the full length of the US west coast, from San Diego to Cape Flattery.

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Record Number of Crabs Located During First Crustacean Tracking Mission
Missions

Two saildrones equipped with acoustic receivers located 34% of the Alaska red king crabs that were tagged by NOAA Fisheries in June.

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Saildrone Joins Multiplatform MBARI CANON Experiment
Missions

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s annual experiment to investigate the diurnal vertical migration included a Saildrone USV equipped with an echo sounder.

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Saildrone Launches First Atlantic to Mediterranean Mission
Missions

Two Saildrone USVs are sailing from Cabo Verde to Trieste, Italy on a six-month mission to better understand ocean acidification, the global carbon budget, and the socio-economic impacts of a changing ocean ecosystem.

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Saildrone and JAMSTEC: Innovative Data Collection in the Western Pacific
Missions

The first partnership between Japan’s premiere marine-earth science agency and Saildrone included missions to the reference KEO offshore buoy, a study of the Kuroshio Current, and at the site of the Tropical Pacific m-Triton buoy.

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Saildrone USV Completes First Atlantic Crossing East to West
Missions

After setting the record for the fastest unmanned Atlantic crossing, SD 1021 has now completed the return journey, not only beating its own record time but also becoming the first autonomous vehicle to transit in both directions across the Atlantic Ocean.

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Saildrone Completes First Autonomous Circumnavigation of Antarctica
Missions

SD 1020 survived freezing temperatures, 15-meter waves, 130 km/h winds, and collisions with giant icebergs to complete the 22,000-kilometer mission in 196 days.

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Autonomous Vehicles Will Be Integral to the Future of Tropical Pacific Observations
Missions

Saildrone USVs have completed a series of missions to test the platform as part of the Tropical Pacific Observation System monitoring El Niño weather events in the Pacific Ocean.

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Fleet of 7 Saildrone USVs to Survey US West Coast for NOAA Fisheries
Missions

Two concurrent missions will cover some 2,500 kilometers of coastline from San Diego to Vancouver Island.

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Largest Saildrone Fleet Ever Launches 5th Annual Arctic Mission
Missions

Six saildrones were deployed from Dutch Harbor, AK, to survey ongoing changes in the Arctic ecosystem in partnership with NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab and Alaska Fisheries Science Center and NASA.

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Norway Launches Saildrone USVs in the North Sea for Fisheries Research
Missions

The 2019 Sandeel and Saithe Mission will be the first European test of Saildrone USVs in partnership with Norway’s Institute of Marine Research.

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100 Days in the Southern Ocean
Missions

SD 1020 is more than halfway around Antarctica, well on its way toward completing the first autonomous circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean.

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Using Ocean Drones to Track Fur Seals in the Bering Sea
Missions

How innovative autonomous technology is helping scientists to solve the mystery of northern fur seals disappearing from the remote Pribilof Islands.

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Storms Pound the Southern Ocean, SD 1020 Soldiers On
Missions

60+ knot gusts and massive breaking waves? That’s just a typical day in the Southern Ocean.

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Assessing Fish Abundance on the West Coast in 100 Days
Missions

The 2018 West Coast Fisheries Survey combined the efforts of a NOAA research vessel and a fleet of saildrones to observe and collect data on fish and marine mammals from anchovy to humpback whales.

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120 Years Separate These Two Antarctica Expeditions
Missions

Two centuries after the Belgica expedition became the first to survive a winter in Antarctica, Saildrone launched the first autonomous circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean.

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Saildrone Launches Atlantic Mission to Quantify Ocean Carbon Exchange
Missions

This 30-day mission to study air-sea heat and carbon exchange in the Gulf Stream is made possible by a Saildrone Award.

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What Is a Saildrone, and Why Is It Sailing Around Antarctica?
Missions

The Saildrone Antarctic Circumnavigation, in partnership with the Li Ka Shing Foundation, is the first autonomous circumnavigation of this remote region.

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Saildrone Fleet Launches in New Zealand on Epic Journey
Missions

The first autonomous circumnavigation of Antarctica provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring this remote marine environment to the classroom.

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Can a Wind-Powered Ocean Drone Circumnavigate the Most Extreme Ocean?
Missions

Three Saildrone USVs launched from Bluff, NZ, January 2019. Their mission: the first autonomous circumnavigation of Antarctica.

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Extending Ship-Based Surveys in the Arctic with Ocean Drones
Missions

A flotilla of saildrones established a new northern record for an autonomous vehicle while measuring CO2 and Arctic cod abundance in the Chukchi Sea.

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Using Drones to Survey Fish Stock: Our First Full West Coast Mission
Missions

In the Summer of 2018, five saildrones embark on the first autonomous full West Coast fisheries survey, in collaboration with Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Oceans Canada, and the NOAA research vessel Reuben Lasker.

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Studying Natural Oil Seeps in the Gulf of Mexico with Unmanned Surface Vehicles
Missions

Saildrone helped ECOGIG consortium researchers understand the effects of wind and current on natural oil slicks and their larger impact on the Gulf ecosystem.

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