Observing air-sea interactions on a global scale is essential for improving Earth system forecasts. Yet these exchanges are challenging to quantify for a range of reasons, including extreme conditions, vast and remote under-sampled locations, requirements for a multitude of co-located variables, and the high variability of fluxes in space and time. Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) present a novel solution for measuring these crucial air-sea interactions at a global scale. Powered by renewable energy (e.g., wind and waves for propulsion, solar power for electronics), USVs have provided navigable and persistent observing capabilities over the past decade and a half.
Patterson, Ruth G., Meghan F. Cronin, Sebastiaan Swart, Joana Beja, Johan M. Edholm, Jason McKenna, Jaime B. Palter et al. "Uncrewed Surface Vehicles in the Global Ocean Observing System: A New Frontier for Observing and Monitoring at the Air-sea Interface." Frontiers in Marine Science 12, (2025): 1523585. Accessed March 10, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1523585.