SAVANNAH, Ga. — April 5, 2014 — Off the coast of Georgia, researchers and pilots from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently tested the ability of a small unmanned aircraft — a drone — to conduct fish population surveys.
"It's a proof of concept mission," said Joe Smith, leader of menhaden sampling for the National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Beaufort, N.C. Smith had been planning an Atlantic coast survey of the fish with traditional aircraft but found the price tag steep at an estimated $500,000 for start up.
"Last summer we started talking about using drones," he said.
The aircraft NOAA uses is the AeroVironment PUMA AE.
"That's the all environment," said NOAA Corps Officer Kevin Doremus. "It's a hand-launched, 13-pound UAS or unmanned aerial system."
It can be recovered on water or land. Battery operated, it's quiet, a plus when looking for wildlife, and it can cover a range of about 50 square miles flying for two hours on a charge.
Equipped with real-time video and still photo capability, the system of three planes, plus cameras and controls, costs about $250,000. NOAA owns two such systems and has used them to look for sea birds, whales, turtles and marine debris.
Read the full story by the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle