AGS FIRP Track 1: Education and Training during the 2026 International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely-piloted Aircraft Flight Week

This award will deploy an instrumented tower to coastal Florida to study sea breezes and how they help to initiate thunderstorms. The tower will be deployed during a gathering of scientists and students who are interested in how uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) can best be used to advance atmospheric sciences. The focus of this award is on providing students with hands-on training in field instrumentation, data quality control, and interpretation of surface–atmosphere interactions. This project advances US interests by educating the next generation of scientists and improving the use of technology. The International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely-piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) Flight Week (FW) will take place in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral, Florida in summer 2026. These Flight Weeks provide a rare, hands-on research and education testbed in which students, early-career scientists, and experienced investigators work side-by side to design, deploy, and evaluate coordinated UAS observing strategies aimed at addressing fundamental questions in boundary-layer meteorology. The addition of a 30-meter flux tower will provide continuous measurements of the surface energy budget and key meteorological variables needed to identify the timing and passage of boundaries and circulations and allow for intercomparison between the tower and UAS measurements. Students will analyze measurements collected by the tower throughout its deployment, which will enable them to anticipate boundary-layer conditions expected during Flight Week operations and to connect evolving atmospheric conditions with flight planning and observational strategy. These experiences will provide a foundation for students to learn about the challenges and best practices associated with intercomparing measurements from stationary reference platforms and mobile UAS-based observing systems, a skill set that is increasingly important in modern atmospheric research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.