Satellite Cal/Val

NASA’s S-MODE experiment leveraged instruments of the sea and sky to study how small-scale ocean dynamics impact Earth’s climate system.

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.

To establish confidence in Saildrone fit for purpose data, we have sought out and developed relationships with recognized experts in the fields of meteorology and oceanography.

Two saildrones and an underwater glider traveled the Nice-Calvi line to study air-sea carbon flux and demonstrate the potential of autonomous vehicles to extend the capability of fixed-point observatories and remote sensing.

Saildrone USVs have proven to be a valuable tool in a multiplatform observation network, but they can also achieve a variety of mission objectives simultaneously, saving money and resources.

Five saildrones deployed from Barbados observed ocean-atmosphere interactions at the sub-mesoscale improve climate models and weather prediction.

Two saildrones collected oceanographic and biogeochemical data filling observational gaps in a particularly dynamic region of the Western Mediterranean Sea.

Satellite imagery improves understanding of Earth’s systems, but in situ data is required for calibration, validation, and algorithm development.

Five saildrones were deployed from Barbados to join the EUREC4A/ATOMIC project, a massive international effort using air, space, surface, and sub-surface platforms to improve climate models and weather prediction.

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.

The first partnership between Japan’s premiere marine-earth science agency and Saildrone included missions to the reference KEO offshore buoy, a study of the Kuroshio Current, and at the site of the Tropical Pacific m-Triton buoy.

Saildrone-ship-buoy comparisons were a key objective during NASA’s SPURS-2 field campaign, as highlighted by a paper published in a special issue of Oceanography.