UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

Mr. Samuel P. WilliamsonFederal Coordinator for Meteorology

THE ROLE OF THE

OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR

METEOROLOGY

• OFCM Background

• Global Earth Observing Systems

• Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

• Potential UAS Applications

• Summary / Next Steps

Overview

Public Law 87-843 (1963)

DOC Administrative Order

OFCM formed in Jan 1964

1963

1964

• Accountable to Congress and OMB

• Coordinate agency budgets

• Report budgets and activities in annual Federal Plan

OFCM

Historical Perspective

GAO Study Revitalizes OFCM

1979

OFCM Background

OFCM BackgroundMission

To ensure the effective use of federal meteorological resources by leading the systematic coordination of

operational weather requirements, services, and supporting research, among the federal agencies

• High-level focus on:– Needs and requirements– Issues and problems – Studies, reports, plans, and handbooks– Crosscut reviews, assessments, and analyses

• Aviation Weather • Climate Analysis,

Monitoring and Services• Observing Capabilities• Space Weather• Surface Weather• Cooperative (Applied)

Research• Environmental Services

• Urban Meteorology– Homeland Security– Air & Water Quality– Climate– Severe Weather

• Information Technology and Communications

• Modeling and Prediction

OFCM BackgroundKey Focus Areas / Agency Priorities

• Homeland Security– Atmospheric Modeling of Releases from Weapons of Mass

Destruction: Response by Federal Agencies in Support of Homeland Security (Aug 2002)

– Federal Research and Development Needs and Priorities for Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion Modeling (Sep 2004)

• Transportation– National Aviation Weather Program Mid-Course Assessment

(Aug 2003)– Weather Information for Surface Transportation: National Needs

Assessment Report (Dec 2002)• Urban Meteorology

– Meeting Weather Needs in the Urban Community (Jan 2004)– Why Urban Meteorology Now? (Sep 2004)

OFCM BackgroundExamples of Completed Special Studies & Reports

• National space weather program assessment

• Multi-functional phased array radar

• Data assimilation

• National wildland fire weather needs assessment

• Interagency strategic research plan for tropical cyclones

OFCM BackgroundExamples of Ongoing Special Studies & Reports

Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (FCMSSR)

Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (ICMSSR) National Space

Weather Program Council

National Aviation Weather Program

CouncilEnvironmental

Services, Operations, and Research Needs

Operational Processing Centers

Environmental Information Systems and Communications

Integrated Observing Systems

Climate Analysis, Monitoring and

Services

Cooperative Research

Working Group for Urban Meteorology

Program Councils

Federal Coordinator for Meteorology

Standing Committees

FCMSSR: SET POLICIES AND PRIORITIES

ICMSSR: - Implements policy decisions- Makes policy recommendations to FCMSSR- Assess adequacy of federal programs and guides implementation of new interagency programs

Standing Committees: - Document requirements, programs, and activities to provide framework for coordination and collaboration. - Perform analysis of agency programs to provide basis for National leadership to allocate funds to meet requirements

Program Councils (funded programs/projects): - Can form committees or specialized groups (JAG/WG) to work specific projects, can interact w/academia/private sector

OFCM BackgroundRoles / Responsibilities

Departments of:• Agriculture• Commerce• Defense• Energy• Homeland Security

• Science & Technology• FEMA• Coast Guard

• Interior• State• Transportation

• Environmental Protection Agency• National Aeronautics and Space

Administration• National Science Foundation• National Transportation Safety Board• Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Independent agencies:

Executive Office of the President:• Office of Management and Budget• Office of Science and Technology Policy

OFCM BackgroundOFCM Partners

National Research Council (NRC)Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC)Climate Research Committee (CRC)

US Climate Change Science Program

(USCCSP)

National Center for Atmospheric Research

(NCAR)

American Meteorological Society (AMS)

US Weather Research Program (USWRP)

University Corp. for Atmospheric Research

(UCAR)

American Geophysical Union

(AGU)

OFCM BackgroundOFCM Affiliations

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources (CENR)Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (SDR)Subcommittee on Air Quality ResearchInteragency Working Group on Earth Observations

• Why Suborbital– Deployable: target regional / local / ephemeral phenomena – Retrievable: payload change-out, repair, augmentation, reuse – Atmosphere-based: combine in-situ and remote-sensing, multi-

scale process studies for model validation, satellite cal/val for climate-quality datasets

• Why UAS?– Endurance gap between hours-limited aircraft and years-

capable spacecraft– Repetitive monitoring / hazardous conditions– Long-range access to remote locations for in-situ observations

Global Earth Observing Systems

• The OFCM annually hosts the Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference (IHC)

• Provide forum for responsible Federal agencies and user communities to– Review Nation's hurricane forecast and warning program– Make recommendations on how to improve the program in the

future• Major objective is to plan and prepare for upcoming hurricane

season• New procedures, procedural changes, and agreements related to

tropical cyclone forecast and warning services– Documented for implementation in the National Hurricane

Operations Plan • 60th IHC will be held in Mobile, Alabama: March 20-24, 2006

Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

• Action item from the 58th IHC (2004):– Develop an interagency document, “The Nation’s Tropical

Cyclone Forecast And Warning Program:  A Vision And Framework For Improved Operational Capability”

• In response to the action item, OFCM formed a joint action group– JAG members met at OFCM in February 2005 and the group

conducted a strategic planning session during the 59th IHC– Began developing framework for the tropical cyclone research

and development plan– Over the last several weeks, JAG members compiled:

• Information from the session conducted at the 59th IHC• Countless other pertinent material

– Drafted document, “Interagency Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclones: The Way Ahead”

Interagency Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclones

Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

Need to incorporate tropical cyclone UAS requirements into document

• One of the action items from the 59th IHC was:– Develop a strategic plan for Improved Tropical Cyclone

Reconnaissance System (ITCRS) (manned, unmanned, space-based…)

• On Sept. 16, 2005, a partnership between NOAA, NASA Goddard’s Wallops Flight Facility, and the Aerosonde Company led to first successful unmanned aircraft surveillance mission of a tropical storm

• Provided detailed observations of near-surface, high-wind hurricane environment, an area often too dangerous for manned aircraft surveillance

Storm Reconnaissance - Tropical Cyclones

Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

Toth Toth et al.et al. (2000) (2000)

(Based on Data From Winters 1998-2002)

• NOAA’s Gulfstream IV aircraft and Air Force Reserve Command’s WC-130s fly missions from Honolulu and Anchorage

– Targeted upper air observations in advance of significant West Coast winter storms

• 60-80% of forecasts improved because of targeted observations

• 12-hour gain in forecast lead time

• RMS forecast errors reduced by 10-20%

• Improvement similar to that achieved in last 20 years of advances in numerical modeling and data acquisition

UAS Application?

Potential UAS Applications

• Purpose of workshop: engage climate / weather modeling communities to assess applicability of UASs in support of their work

• Other current / future UAS applications (non-military):– High-altitude imagery– Border patrol– Drug interdiction– Environmental sensing– Media and traffic reporting– Tactical law enforcement– Maritime surveillance– Stratospheric telecommunications airships– Nuclear accident appraisal– Forest and wildlife inspection

Potential UAS Applications

• Forest and wildlife inspection– NASA tested several APV-3s– Equipped with thermal

sensors– U.S. Forest Service plans to

use the UASs starting this year to patrol a dozen Western states

Potential UAS Applications

• Use of UASs by federal agencies will continue to grow

– Opportunities for collaboration and leveraging for enhanced environmental data collection

• At OFCM:

– Continue to work IHC action items

– Monitor federal agency UAS activities

• In future, may need to form OFCM Airborne Reconnaissance Working Group

Summary / Next Steps

QUESTIONS?

BACKUPS

• United States Air Force also pursuing UAS tropical cyclone surveillance capability; conducting experiments in two phases:– Phase I (September 5 – 13, 2005):

• Partnering with NASA (Wallops Flight Facility) and Aerosonde Co.• Tested sensor accuracy and aircraft endurance, maneuverability, operating ceiling, and multi-aircraft

operations

– Phase II (October 7 – November 22):

• Flew missions from Guam

• Collected meteorological data in tropical cyclone environment

• Air Force Weather Agency incorporated data into MM5

– Run model with / without UAS data

Storm ReconnaissanceTropical Cyclones