The transatlantic range and 30 hr endurance of the first-generation Aerosonde may seem remarkable for such a small aircraft, but in fact it is just the beginning. The first-generation Aerosonde was a relatively unrefined testbed design, and leaves a lot of room for improvement. Insitu is collaborating with the University of Washington in developing a much more capable second generation based on Seascan , having the reliability, economy, and performance necessary for routine oceanic reconnaissance in weather forecasting and other applications. It will be available in 2002. The accompanying map shows routes calculated by Brian Capozzi, using as an example wind records from 25-28 August 1999.
Aircraft circulate around the whole North Pacific from bases in Hawaii, Japan, and the west coast.
Click here to download an 1.8 MB animation. We expect that routine service with several aircraft always in the air would cost a few million dollars per year. A few tens of millions of dollars per year would suffice for a comprehensive program of cyclone reconnaissance and targeted observations over the oceans worldwide.