WESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN — Saildrone will deploy 10 uncrewed surface vehicles in the western Atlantic Ocean for the 2026 hurricane season to collect real-time ocean and atmospheric data. This will be the fifth consecutive hurricane season Saildrone has deployed uncrewed surface vehicles to study tropical cyclones in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 2021.
The 10 Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vehicles will operate from August to November in the western tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of America. Saildrone will transmit real-time data directly to global forecast centers during the season.
Each Saildrone Explorer vessel measures 23 feet in length and carries sensors to measure wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, surface temperature, sub-surface temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, salinity, wave height, and wave period. The vessels feature a reinforced wing designed to withstand wind speeds exceeding 110 mph and wave heights exceeding 50 feet.
NOAA oceanographer Greg Foltz said, "This multi-year mission between NOAA and Saildrone is helping to improve our understanding of how hurricanes intensify, including when they strengthen rapidly before landfall." Foltz said, "Each storm we observe gives us more data to evaluate and improve prediction models, which is critical for increasing forecast confidence, extending warning lead times and strengthening the nation's preparedness for high-impact weather events."
NOAA scientists will analyze the collected data to study how heat, moisture, and momentum exchanges between the ocean and atmosphere affect storm intensity. Over the past five years, Saildrone vehicles have intercepted 21 named hurricanes and tropical storms across 46 deployments, accumulating over 2,600 days of operational time supporting hurricane research. The vehicles have operated during Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and Hurricane Ian.
Matt Womble, vice president of government relations at Saildrone, said, "The NOAA hurricane mission is one of Saildrone's longest-running and most successful partnerships, and also one of the most technically demanding." He said, "This mission reinforces the value of mature, long-duration uncrewed systems for operating in environments where persistent data collection is otherwise impossible by traditional means."
No independent assessment was available for this report.