Journal Article
Uncrewed surface vehicles in the Global Ocean Observing System: a new frontier for observing and monitoring at the air-sea interface
Ruth G. Patterson; Meghan F. Cronin; Sebastiaan Swart; Joana Beja; Johan M. Edholm; Jason McKenna; Jaime B. Palter; Alex Parker; Charles I. Addey; Wieter Boone; Paban Bhuyan; Justin J. H. Buck; Eugene F. Burger; James Burris; Lionel Camus; Brad de Young; Marcel du Plessis; Mike Flanigan; Gregory R. Foltz; Sarah T. Gille; Laurent Grare; Jeff E. Hansen; Lars Robert Hole; Makio C. Honda; Verena Hormann; Catherine Kohlman; Naoko Kosaka; Carey Kuhn; Luc Lenain; Lev Looney; Andreas Marouchos; Elizabeth K. McGeorge; Clive R. McMahon; Satoshi Mitarai; Calvin Mordy; Akira Nagano; Sarah-Anne Nicholson; Sarah Nickford; Kevin M. O’Brien; David Peddie; Leandro Ponsoni; Virginie Ramasco; Nick Rozenauers; Elizabeth Siddle; Cheyenne Stienbarger; Adrienne J. Sutton; Noriko Tada; Jim Thomson; Iwao Ueki; Lisan Yu; Chidong Zhang; Dongxiao Zhang
Frontiers in Marine Science · Vol. 12 · 2025
Abstract
Observing air-sea interactions on a global scale is essential for improving Earth system forecasts. Yet these exchanges are challenging to quantify for a range of reasons, including extreme conditions, vast and remote under-sampled locations, requirements for a multitude of co-located variables, and the high variability of fluxes in space and time. Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) present a novel solution for measuring these crucial air-sea interactions at a global scale. Powered by renewable energy (e.g., wind and waves for propulsion, solar power for electronics), USVs have provided navigable and persistent observing capabilities over the past decade and a half. In our review of 200 USV datasets and 96 studies, we found USVs have observed a total of 33 variables spanning physical, biogeochemical, biological and ecological processes at the air-sea transition zone. We present a map showing the global proliferation of USV adoption for scientific ocean observing. This review, carried out under the auspices of the ‘Observing Air-Sea Interactions Strategy’ (OASIS), makes the case for a permanent USV network to complement the mature and emerging networks within the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The Observations Coordination Group (OCG) overseeing GOOS has identified ten attributes of an in-situ global network. Here, we discuss and evaluate the maturation of the USV network towards meeting these attributes. Our article forms the basis of a roadmap to formalise and guide the global USV community towards a novel and integrated ocean observing frontier.