Geophysical Institute opens office for unmanned aircraft in Iceland
November 6, 2014
907-474-5823
11/6/14
The UAF Geophysical Institute now has an office in Iceland. As an expansion of their partnership with Unmanned Aircraft Systems Iceland, UAF and Icelandic officials inaugurated the new office on Oct. 30.
The new office is located at the former U.S. Navy base in Keflavik, Iceland, and will be a base of activity for science, research and aviation technology development. As a result of this partnership, UAF now has access to several aircraft hangars, office and conference facilities, billeting, and more than 20 airstrips with their associated infrastructure to support its large unmanned aircraft test and evaluation and science and research program. Unmanned aircraft systems support many of the Geophysical Institute’s areas of research, and the partnership and co-location with UAS Iceland marks an important milestone for both its traditional research program and the growth of UAS technology.
The Geophysical Institute’s Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, or ACUASI, operates a federally recognized unmanned aircraft test and evaluation program known as the Pan Pacific UAS Test Range Complex. UAF has been conducting unmanned aircraft research missions in Iceland since 2012, and it anticipates continued and sustained growth of its activity in Iceland, in partnership with UAS Iceland and its domestic U.S. and international collaborators.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Marty Rogers, 907-322-9913, mwrogers3@alaska.edu.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos available. Contact Sue Mitchell, 907-474-5823, sue.mitchell@alaska.edu.
SM/11-6-14/113-15