Record-Setting Observations Collected by a Small Uncrewed Aircraft System in Category 5 Hurricane Ian

Over the past decade, NOAA has explored the use of an air-launched, small uncrewed aircraft system (sUAS) to better sample the highly turbulent Tropical Cyclone atmospheric boundary layer and surface ocean environments. Since 2014, NOAA has successfully deployed fourteen (14) sUAS into five Hurricanes including Edouard (2014- 2), Maria (2017 -6), Michael (2018 -1), Ian (2022 -1) and Tammy (2023 -4). Of those 14 missions, the Hurricane Ian flight using Anduril’s Altius 600 sUAS proved to be the most challenging and rewarding. Ian, a Category 5 storm, underwent rapid intensification just prior to landfall along the southwest coast of Florida. The level of turbulence experienced was extreme both for the sUAS and NOAA’s WP-3D deployment aircraft. Multiple sUAS records were broken during this flight including: duration (102 minutes), measured windspeed (215 mph), and sUAS-P3 communication range (135nmi). Detailed analysis associated with this historic mission will be presented.