For Immediate Release

FAIRBANKS, Alaska—Researchers can chalk up another accomplishment for the University of Alaska’s Unmanned Aircraft Program. Based on the seal-observing performance of the program’s 40-pound ScanEagles, researchers have learned the aircraft can operate in snow and light icing conditions. This feat enhances the viability of the technology, which has proven useful flying through smoke and fog during previous scientific flights.

For Immediate Release

In a series of three flights through restricted airspace in Puget Sound, WA, the University of Alaska’s unmanned aircraft system proved its value to science once again. 

For Immediate Release

Whether it’s monitoring the migration of marine mammals in the Beaufort Sea, or mapping summer wildfires that flare up in Alaska’s Interior, opportunities abound for unmanned aircraft in the Arctic.

For Immediate Release

It only weighs about 40 pounds, but the Insitu A-20, an unmanned aircraft system, will provide a hefty boost to a variety of research projects throughout Alaska. The new system purchased by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has a 10-foot wingspan and can fly more than 20 hours at a time. The aircraft is robotic and controlled by an operator through a computerized ground control system.

For Immediate Release

FAIRBANKS, Alaska—Staff from Poker Flat Research Range have traveled north to assist fire personnel in mapping the Crazy Mountain Complex fires with unmanned aircraft. The team is stationed at Mile 145 of the Steese Highway, between Circle and Central, deploying the aircraft since Aug. 5.

CONTACT: Amy Hartley, Geophysical Institute information officer, 907-474-5823, amy [dot] hartley [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu

Fairbanks, Alaska—The United States Navy has awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks up to $47 million to test and evaluate payloads aboard small, unmanned aircraft.