Aircraft Operations
NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), located at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, is home to NOAA's fleet of aircraft. These fixed-wing aircraft operate in some of the world's most remote and demanding flight regimes—over open ocean, mountains, coastal wetlands, Arctic pack ice, and in and around hurricanes and other severe weather—with an exemplary safety record. There are no comparable aircraft in the commercial fleet to support NOAA's atmospheric and hurricane surveillance/research programs. AOC provides unique specialized platforms to NOAA's scientists. The hard-working versatile aircraft collect the environmental and geographic data essential to NOAA hurricane and other weather and atmospheric research; provide aerial support for coastal and aeronautical charting and remote sensing projects; conduct aerial surveys for hydrologic research to help predict flooding potential from snow melt, and provide support to NOAA's fishery research and marine mammal assessment programs.
Read more about this topic: NOAA Ships And Aircraft
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