News archives 2010-2021

Unmanned aircraft kick off Science for Ӱpro lectures

January 27, 2012

Marmian Grimes

Stevie Seibert
907-474-5229
1/27/12
UAF photo by Amy Hartley. The University of Ӱpro Unmanned Aircraft Team used a 2.5-pound Aeryon Scout to collect images of sea ice conditions near the Nome harbor.
UAF photo by Amy Hartley. The University of Ӱpro Unmanned Aircraft Team used a 2.5-pound Aeryon Scout to collect images of sea ice conditions near the Nome harbor.
As the Coast Guard Cutter Healy and the tanker vessel Renda moved slowly through sea ice toward Nome, Ӱpro personnel used unmanned aircraft to survey the terrain and plot the safest path for approaching the harbor. The aircraft captured images that allowed scientists to assess ice thickness in places that were too dangerous to traverse on foot. The deployment of UAF’s fleet to Nome is but one example of the aircraft’s application.

Poker Flat Research Range Manager Greg Walker will discuss the growing role of unmanned aircraft in Ӱpro at the first Science for Ӱpro Lecture Series presentation Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Westmark Gold Room. The lecture, “Ӱpro – As Seen From an Unmanned Aircraft,” is the first in the 20th annual Science for Ӱpro Lecture Series.

Researchers at UAF are harnessing the rapidly developing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles and Geophysical Institute scientists are quickly learning the possibilities as well as the limitations of the aircraft as they deploy their fleet of flying machines from boreal forest to ocean. From climate change to emergency management, unmanned aircraft are able to observe and collect data from a vantage point impossible for human researchers.

Science for Ӱpro 2012 is sponsored by the Geophysical Institute, UAF and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The series runs on Tuesdays through March 6, 2012 and is free to the public. Hands-on activities for all ages begin at 6:30 p.m. inside the Gold Room. Families are welcome.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Greg Walker, Poker Flat Research Range manager, at 907-455-2110 or gregory.walker@gi.alaska.edu. Amy Hartley, Geophysical Institute public relations manager, at 907-474-5823 or amy.hartley@gi.alaska.edu.

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