NOAA deploys Saildrones to monitor El Niño in the Pacific

NOAA has deployed four Saildrone Explorer uncrewed surface vehicles to investigate a strengthening El Niño event in the equatorial Pacific. Two of the wind-powered vessels departed Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 21, 2026, for a four-month mission. They will travel approximately 2,400 kilometers south to reach the center of the developing event.

The drones are equipped with specialized meteorological and oceanographic sensors to collect atmospheric and ocean data. This mission aims to study how heat previously confined to the western Pacific is shifting eastwards and being released into the atmosphere, a process that alters global weather patterns. The data collected will support scientists at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL).

The Saildrones will operate within the Tropical Pacific Observing System, working alongside a multinational network of moored buoys and Argo profiling floats to provide real-time monitoring of surface winds, air temperature, humidity, and ocean temperatures.