Naval Oceanography Hosts First US Underwater Glider Workshop
More than 90 glider operators from a variety of entities including federal agencies, academia and the industry attended the first U.S. Underwater Glider Workshop. The workshop was hosted by Naval Oceanography, which is a part of the Interagency Ocean Observing Committee’s (IOOC) Glider Task Force.
Taking place at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi from January 18-19, the workshop was designed to help build a close knit national glider network, while also giving attendees the opportunity to see naval oceanography glider operations.
For Dr. Bill Burnett, deputy commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), workshops like this provide a great opportunity for members of different industries to come together for a common cause, in this case, unmanned systems.
“Because unmanned systems are becoming so prolific, it's important to meet with groups like this,” Burnett says in a Navy press release. “We look forward to engaging with the IOOC and others in the future.”
In 20+ years, naval oceanographers have operated more than 100 unmanned systems, and have collected information from more than 250,000 miles of physical battlespace. That information has helped support efforts for submarine, mine, special operations, and expeditionary warfare.
During the workshop, Burnett also spoke about the command's plans to create a Navy range complex along the Mississippi Sound, which will be used for several types of testing and training. The command has also partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi to create an unmanned underwater systems certification program.
