Affiliations:

Ruth G Patterson (Elysium EPL, Darwin, NT, Australia), Meghan Cronin (NOAA, PMEL, Seattle, WA, USA), Sebastiaan Swart (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Justin Buck (National Oceanography Centre, UK), Verena Hormann (Scripps Oceanographic Institute, CA, USA), Chidong Zhang (NOAA, PMEL), Wieter Boone (Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Belgium), Johann Edholm (U. Gothenburg), Elizabeth Siddle (National Oceanography Centre, UK), Marcell du Plessis (U. Gothenburg), Nick Rome (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research).

Abstract:

The Surface UNcrewed Fleet (SUN Fleet) is a newly endorsed emerging Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) network designed to expand surface ocean and atmospheric data collection through coordinated, persistent deployments of Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs). SUN Fleet was is now recognised by UNESCO’s International Oceanographic Commission and the World Meteorological Organisation, joining established GOOS networks such as Argo and OceanSITES. Detailed in Patterson et al. (2025), SUN Fleet addresses long-standing observational gaps, particularly in remote, climatically sensitive, and logistically challenging regions. SUN Fleet will leverage USV platforms capable of multi-month missions with real-time data delivery from multiple co-located data streams to the Global Telecommunications System (and WIS 2.0) to improve weather and climate forecasting on global and regional scales. SUN Fleet’s nascent project office is managed through a distributed international partnership with the project office based at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR, US Centre for Ocean Leadership) and scientific coordination through global institutions, including NOAA, the National Oceanography Centre (UK), CSIR (South Africa), the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and JAMSTEC (Japan).

This presentation will discuss SUN Fleets’ recent developments, immediate needs and most pressing challenges over the next 12 months. We will update the Australian community on international activities involving USVs, and how other governments are adopting this technology for ocean observing. An opportunity exists now for the Australian oceanographic community to start taking action to develop locally-appropriate capability to fill geographic and disciplinary gaps in our current observing system. We will also discuss how SUN Fleet will drive the scientific USV adoption market, formalising connections to the scientific and metocean operational communities, and how this approach fits in with the principles of the Ocean Enterprise Initiative.

Biography:

Dr. Ruth Patterson is Chair of SUN Fleet, ‘Surface UNcrewed Fleet’, the most recent emerging Global Ocean Observing System network focussed on Uncrewed Surface Vehicles for air-sea interactions observations. As co-founder of SUN Fleet alongside academics from NOAA and the University of Gothenburg, Dr. Patterson led a four-year campaign to establish SUN Fleet, culminating in UNESCO endorsement in April 2025. She served as first author on the foundational Patterson et al. 2025 “Uncrewed Surface Vehicles in the Global Ocean Observing System” paper, which established the community of practice for SUN Fleet. Following her 20-year career based in Darwin, she is currently working at UWA and WAMSI, focusing on two critical areas: developing co-designed digital tools enabling secure data sharing across industry, government, and academia for cumulative environmental impact assessment; and chairing SUN Fleet to enhance global weather forecasting capabilities.