https://phys.org/news/2018-07-bird-eye-view-arctic.html

Communities, businesses, and governments around the world need accurate and timely weather and climate forecasts for planning and safety. One key to improving forecast models is obtaining additional data, especially lacking in remote locations such as the Arctic. This research, a collaboration between CIRES and NOAA scientists, along with United States Department of Energy (DOE) and university partners, was designed to investigate whether drones and other unmanned technologies can complement and enhance more conventional ways of gathering atmospheric data.

In the new study, the researchers find that unmanned aircraft and tethered balloon systems—collectively known as unmanned aircraft systems or UASs—can help fill data gaps and are well-suited for routine flights in the Arctic. And because of the work done by DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, in partnership with de Boer and his colleagues to develop these state-of-the-art unmanned technologies, ARM is now accepting proposals from atmospheric scientists to deploy UASs at their research sites.