July 9, 2014 — The first of two scheduled deployments of unmanned aircraft systems over the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands showed they can be used to conduct research without harming the region’s fragile ecosystem, federal scientists said Tuesday.
Scientists in June conducted research in the islands using an unmanned aerial system deployed from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ship Hiialakai. Researchers from NOAA and the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service used the Puma system to perform surveys of monk seals, sea turtles, sea birds and vegetation, and to look for marine debris in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. A second deployment of a longer range system is scheduled for next week.
The aircraft completed seven flights: one over Trig Island and four over Tern Island, both at French Frigate Shoals; and two at Nihoa. Researchers said they were pleased with the results.
“This is a great example of how investing in our ability to deploy state-of-the-art technology to conduct observations in remote locations can provide critical data to help NOAA in our conservation and resilience missions,” said Todd Jacobs, project scientist for NOAA Research’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program, and lead for the Hawaii missions. “This operation validated our hopes that we can use the aircraft in the monument for a variety of missions without harming the environment to get data that we wouldn’t otherwise get. We were able to survey in remote coves for monk seals and turtles in conditions that we may not have been able to safely land people ashore.”
Read the full story at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald