Arctic 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.

Data collected by a fleet of saildrones deployed to the Arctic is being used to validate satellite remote sensing and help develop machine learning tools to estimate air-sea heat exchange.

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

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.

Saildrone USVs enabled the Alaska Fisheries Science Center to perform the 2020 Alaska pollock survey during a time of considerable environmental and civic uncertainty.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

NOAA Fisheries and the Bering Sea Fisheries Research Foundation have teamed up to track seasonal movements of Alaska red king crab using a Saildrone USV equipped with an acoustic receiver.

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.

SD 1023 captured this image in the Arctic, sparking a lively discussion among the Saildrone team and our science partners.

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

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