Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USV; Figure 1 ) present a transformative solution to improving high-resolution observations in variable conditions, whilst delivering broad-scale coverage of the global ocean surface. Renewable-energy powered USVs can traverse tens of thousands of kilometres unassisted, simultaneously collecting data at high frequencies and thus solving the high-resolution and broad scale juxtaposition required for air-sea interaction observations. USVs enable navigable access to extreme environmental conditions such as tropical cyclones, winter storms and polar ice, which are typically under-sampled due to safety concerns and sparsely located (or absent) fixed moorings. Multiple oceanographic and atmospheric sensors can be remotely operated to simultaneously collect the essential ocean and climate variables necessary to calculate air-sea fluxes. Almost any instrument-based sensor can potentially be integrated, creating a multidisciplinary platform for ocean monitoring (Patterson et al., 2022), spanning ecology, biology, chemistry, physical oceanography, and atmospheric science. A USV’s position at the surface allows constant connectivity, near real-time data relays and access to wind, wave, and solar energy for propulsion and powering sensors. As USVs become more affordable, the implementation of multiple USVs used as force multipliers alongside other crewed or uncrewed vessels will significantly increase spatio-temporal efficiency, reducing the cost and increasing the accuracy of broad-scale surveys.

USVs have recently become a reliable way to access extreme and remote environments including tropical cyclones (Lenain and Melville, 2014; Mitarai and McWilliams, 2016; Ino et al., 2021), major hurricanes (Foltz et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2023a, b; Yu et al., 2023), atmospheric cold pools (Wills et al., 2021, 2023), volcanically active areas where crewed ship operations are restricted (Tada et al., 2024), and in seasonally sea-ice covered polar seas (Wood et al., 2013; Swart et al., 2020; Chiodi et al., 2021; Du Plessis et al., 2022; Drushka et al., 2024; Sivam et al., 2024). USVs have also collected wave measurements in winter storms and hurricanes (Hole et al., 2016; Nickford et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2023a), current profiles in the North Sea and Chukchi Sea (Wullenweber et al., 2022; Chi et al., 2023), wintertime storm-front interactions (Nickford et al., 2022; Toolsee et al., 2024), and have crossed entire ocean basins (Villareal and Wilson, 2014; Goebel et al., 2014) as well as circumnavigated Antarctica (Nicholson et al., 2022; Sutton et al., 2021). Even a single USV can be used to survey fronts and eddies, if air-sea flux measurements are combined to extrapolate sea surface temperature (SST) to a ‘foundational SST’ below the daytime stratification that occurs on sunny days with low winds (Cronin et al., 2024). USV adoption has also forged new disciplinary capabilities by providing reduced-noise platforms for multiple types of acoustic monitoring (Hildebrand et al., 2013, 2014; Pagniello et al., 2019), which is also complementary to fisheries research and operations (Mordy et al., 2017; Handegard et al., 2024), and have been used and designed for cost-effective maritime domain awareness (Nothacker, 2024), including for surveillance of remote marine protected areas (Angus et al., 2022; Molina-Molina et al., 2021). USVs have allowed an expanded footprint for ocean observing into extreme environments that challenge crewed vessels.

USV manufacturers, universities, and research institutions worldwide have pioneered groundbreaking USV capabilities, yielding valuable data and insights into this technology’s capabilities ( Table 1 ). However, progress has been siloed within individual projects, reducing the potential for collective knowledge-building. The absence of standardised data collection, processing, disseminating and storage practices further hinders adoption and advancement of the USV industry for the benefit of society. Such complexities are not unique in ocean data collection, and previously, capacity development has been effectively progressed by taking a globally coordinated approach to data collection, management, and distribution. Such is the case with the 15 in-situ ocean observing networks within GOOS, including OceanSITES, Argo, drifters, OceanGliders, and Surface Ocean CO₂ Observing Network (SOCONET), which approach global ocean observing under ten Observations Coordination Group (OCG) attributes to meet the needs of the global ocean observing community (GOOS, 2018).

The scientific and USV industry communities have appealed for a globally coordinated approach to USV-based ocean monitoring (Clayson et al., 2023; Cronin et al., 2023; Whitt et al., 2020; Cronin et al., 2019; Wanninkhof et al., 2019; Centurioni et al., 2019; Meinig et al., 2019; Gille et al., 2016). Adopting a global network approach will transform the patchwork of independent USV projects into an established and trusted capability. As such, a ‘USV Network for GOOS’ has been established as an endorsed UN Ocean Decade project linked to the Observing Air-Sea Interaction Strategy (OASIS) UN Ocean Decade programme, to serve as a starting point for a permanent global USV network. This initiative aims to evolve the existing USV scientific data collection community into a coordinated entity with clear objectives and priorities, to be endorsed by the GOOS OCG as an emerging network. To achieve this, the USV Network for GOOS will demonstrate the network’s progress towards meeting the ten OCG attributes ( Figure 2 ). Below, we discuss each attribute in detail in the context of the existing GOOS OCG networks.

Comprehensive global coverage of the open ocean using a range of USV archetypes is already making significant contributions to scientific ocean observations. To highlight this proliferation, we produced global USV coverage maps ( Figure 3 ) using metadata (longitude, latitude, date, time) contributions from USV manufacturers, authors of published USV papers, and this paper’s co-authors’ professional networks. This has resulted in 200 USV datasets collected between 2011 and 2024 ( Figure 3 ), although USV manufacturers indicated that significantly more data exist with commercial clients.

The global coverage maps indicate tremendous potential to fill observational gaps in remote regions of the ocean, such as the Pacific Ocean and higher latitudes ( Figures 3A, B ). They also illustrate locations where USVs have not yet been used, such as in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic. The steady increase in USV adoption over time ( Figures 3C, E ) is contrasted by large interannual variability of higher and lower sampling years ( Figure 3E ), indicating that USV observations are not yet sustained globally. Currently, about 80% of USV observations are located in the Northern Hemisphere ( Figure 3C ). This bias may be attributed to the relatively higher acquisition of funding in the Northern Hemisphere compared to the south, and large, dedicated process studies, such as the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS; Smith et al., 2019), tropical Atlantic hurricane observations, the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS-2; SPURS project, 2015; Lindstrom et al., 2015) and the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE; Farrar et al., 2020).

A unique aspect of USV technology is the ability to simultaneously monitor a significant range of EOVs and ECVs within the air-sea transition zone. Unlike many OCG networks that focus on measuring a small number of EOVs extensively, the USV network will complement the existing GOOS networks by collecting unprecedented co-located variables. This will effectively expand coverage of multidisciplinary studies, physical ocean-atmospheric observations, and physical ocean-ecological and biological observations.

Our review of USV literature found that of the 40 unique EOVs (https://goosocean.org/what-we-do/framework/essential-ocean-variables/) and ECVs (https://gcos.wmo.int/en/essential-climate-variables/table) 26 have been measured using USVs, plus a further five variables not listed as EOVs or ECVs (Table 2). The maximum number of variables monitored during a single USV deployment was 18, comprising wave height and period (sea state), skin temperature, subsurface temperature, salinity, currents, dissolved oxygen, biomass, ocean sound, atmospheric pressure, longwave and shortwave radiation, air temperature, humidity, wind velocity, seawater and air pCO₂, coloured dissolved organic matter, and chlorophyll-a fluorometry (Zhang et al., 2019a). Sustained high-resolution data collection is possible due to USVs’ large payloads, large power capacity aided by renewable energy (e.g. wind and solar), sustained ample computing power, large data storage capacity for high-resolution data, and near real-time data relay typically packaged into 1-minute to 10-minute averages (Hodges et al., 2023; Foltz et al., 2022; Reeves Eyre et al., 2023).

USVs powered by renewable energy have entered the market in recent years due, in part, to the availability of low-cost and innovative battery technology and solar panels. Scientists have largely adopted these USVs, which are a subset of USVs that are inherently sustainable, leveraging a combination of renewable energy sources for propulsion, such as wind and wave power, or battery-electric motors charged by solar energy. Instrumentation and electronics are typically powered by solar-charged batteries, enabling USVs to operate in the open ocean for extended periods in the range of multiple months. USVs are typically integrated with large numbers of non-expendable oceanographic and meteorological instrumentation rendering these platforms high-value and therefore non-disposable. Moreover, high frequency ‘delayed data’ are usually stored onboard, greatly enhancing the value of a safe return to shore. Even after sustaining damage, USVs can be navigated to port for repair (Nickford et al., 2022; Sutton et al., 2021).

While the emergence of USVs powered by renewable energy is exciting for a range of sectors, this full reliance on renewable energy sources presents limitations, particularly regarding power availability and speed of propulsion. Studies have highlighted instances where the reliance on solar power alone for propulsion and instrument operation has led to gaps in data collection (Nickford et al., 2024; Chiodi et al., 2021; Levine et al., 2021). For example, an operational project using 20 wave gliders to monitor tide levels in Japanese waters, encountered consistent difficulties due to insufficient power (Ino et al., 2021). Other projects have reported USVs with a combination of wind and electric motor propulsion unable to fight strong currents (Chu et al., 2019; Tada et al., 2024), limiting their use in these environments. Power limitations can also lead to ambiguity regarding data transmission frequencies, affecting the quality of the data collected and reducing the efficacy of USV adoption. Mitarai and McWilliams (2016) expected real-time high frequency (20 Hz) data return, however, received data at 10-minute intervals in real-time and the high-frequency data once the platform had returned to port. A marginal sea ice study in the higher latitudes required cameras to be turned off during periods of low power (Chiodi et al., 2021), or reduced power duty cycles of a mini echosounder survey to as low as 25% as day time grew shorter with the changing season (de Robertis et al., 2019; Levine et al., 2021). The latter would also apply when cloudiness is persistent and there are larger solar angles. While relying solely on renewable energy sources in some environments introduces limitations, USV manufacturers are integrating hybrid fuel capabilities to extend operational capability and improve reliability for wintertime, high latitudes, during periods of high cloud cover, and in locations where there are strong currents. These integrations will be critical to allow the USV network to maintain environmental stewardship whilst also meeting network targets to operate in these challenging operational environments.

As with any in situ surface ocean data collection, biofouling is one of the limiting factors for USV deployment durations - a universal issue also affecting other platforms such as surface buoys and drifters. While adding anti-fouling to the instruments, sensors and the hull is one obvious solution, these typically contain copper. This can affect inductive salinity measurements if too close to the sensor (Johnson and Fassbender, 2023), so care must be taken to ensure an adequate sensor placement distance from the antifouling during the instrument integration process. Other anti-fouling options such as wipers and UV lights are theoretically more practical on a USV than on, say, a surface buoy or drifter because of the USVs larger power payloads (Ryan et al., 2020). One significant advantage of USVs is that they are recovered after missions, so all their sensors can be post-calibrated, unlike some of the expendable observing platforms. Comparing USV data with other platforms such as moored surface data at varying degrees of biofouling also provides an opportunity for better understanding the impact of biofouling on sensor data in general, following examples comparing fouled with un-fouled wave buoys (Thomson et al., 2015). Depending on where the USV is operating (e.g. warm, tropical environments versus higher latitudes), biofouling can present significant limitations on the duration of the platform deployment. Major benefits of the USV technology is that the data can be monitored in real-time, underwater cameras, if available, can be placed to monitor biofouling, and USVs can self-retrieve, or be swapped out with a recently serviced USV when biofouling (or indeed power or calibration limitations) becomes an issue.

A governance framework will set the network’s community of practice to drive implementation, development and long-term sustainment. A core steering committee comprising three leadership committees will lead the network. Each leadership committee will be made up of stakeholders across what we consider are the three crucial aspects to delivering ocean data using USVs: science, data management, and public-private partnerships. This multidisciplinary stakeholder-led governance structure will ensure that the network’s potential is fully realised and remains aligned with contemporary needs, including the recruitment and support of Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP) and ensuring the barriers to Justice, Inequality, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) are broken (Johri et al., 2021). As such, open calls for participation, also following CARE principles (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility and Ethics; Carroll et al., 2020), will aid inclusive participation by individuals in under-represented regions and developing nations. A governance structure will be adopted that aligns with these principles and allows for equitable representation of the diverse stakeholders. If endorsed by GOOS OCG as an official emerging network, the USV network will benefit from OCG-facilitated discussions and opportunities aligned with these principles, and opportunity-sharing between the other OCG networks. USV network leadership committees will be required to provide transparency in decision-making and communications, and be required to declare conflicts of interest, especially when working with private companies. Guidance in implementing measures to maintain these standards will be drawn from other OCG networks.

To date, the network committee comprises the co-authors of this paper, and meets intermittently to share news, updates, ideas, and work on collaborative funding proposals. These meetings comprise a combination of recorded webinars (available at https://airseaobs.org/resources/usv-for-goos-webinar) and meetings to work on network activities and discuss funding opportunities to propel the network. A core committee will be formed within 12 months of this paper being published, and the steering committee will organise regular committee meetings to undertake tasks such as setting priorities for the network goals and activities, and developing funding pitches to work towards meeting the ten OCG attributes. Inter-sessional activities will be workshopped on relevant aspects of the network related to the ten attributes. The core steering committee will report annually to the GOOS OCG committee and provide input into GOOS OCG activities, and liaise with other relevant communities, such as OceanOPS (https://www.ocean-ops.org/), the Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS; https://www.oceanbestpractices.org/) and other OCG networks.

Data distribution is a major challenge for the USV network due to nuances that are unique to the USV network, including the multiple and diverse platform types, manufacturers, and the multitude of USV data delivery mechanisms and options; USV data delivery needs to be considered differently from other networks. One aspect of data delivery stems from USVs’ unique capability to persistently relay Near Real-Time (NRT) data (e.g. roughly every 10 minutes) as well as very high-resolution Delayed Mode (DM) data ( Figure 4 ). NRT data transmission configuration depends on the USV satellite communication subscription (e.g., bandwidth and data) which currently varies with USV make, model, and operators. Alongside this, the complexity of the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and the transmission procedures for different data types (e.g., biological and ecological data) constrain data uploads to the GTS. It is possible for the USV network to borrow and adapt standards of existing networks to make it easier for USV end-users to make their data publicly available. For example, the Ships Observations Team (SOT) has recently formed a task team for Enhancement of Independent Class Observations (TT-EICO). This task team is designed to support the development and maintenance of new pilot projects to include gathering of data and metadata, and their quality control, from vessels where the information is not yet made available on the GTS (pers comm. Shawn Smith and Darin Figurskey). USV data handling and transmission will need to be considered independently of OceanGliders, drifters, and Argo platforms because of the large data storage payloads and their constant connection to satellites at the surface. For NRT transmission, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) GTS uses the BUFR (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological and oceanographic data) format and an existing template was developed to specifically support USV NRT data exchange. This template has been used over the last several years to exchange USV data on the GTS and is a strong starting point for implementation across the USV network. In this context, the GTS is currently evolving the WMO Information System (WIS; https://community.wmo.int/en/activity-areas/wis) so USV data infrastructure will be planned to meet the requirements of the WIS 2.0 as it replaces the GTS. The USV network is in an ideal position to lead the development of appropriate data and metadata formats, which will be made available online in the form of templates to the scientific community, USV manufacturers, and private USV users should they wish to make their data publicly available. The network will offer expertise and guidance to ensure data is disseminated according to the GOOS OCG attributes.

The USV network is committed to promoting FAIR, CARE and TRUST principles, defined here: FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable; Wilkinson et al., 2016; Tanhua et al., 2019) list the characteristics that facilitate data exchange; the TRUST principles (Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability and Technology; Lin et al., 2020) focus on defining the criteria for best practices in digital preservation by repositories, and the CARE principles are people and purpose oriented, ensuring that Indigenous innovations and self-determination are not ignored, thus decreasing the power differentials and historical contexts. Communicating these data-norms and expectations is an important aspect of developing the community of practice. These principles will be communicated to the public and network as part of the USV community of practice (on a USV network website, which is currently being developed) so that data contributors are aware of the principles under which the network and associated data distribution operates.

The USV network will develop data processing strategies and best practices by harnessing community-agreed protocols and taking advantage of existing efforts and data distribution models from other GOOS networks and data delivery quality standards. As USVs are new technology, the network has a collective responsibility to ensure that appropriate quality controls on data processing and delivery are met. While these processes are not yet fully formed, we will draw from the learnings of other OCG networks introducing new technologies. For example, open source code will be encouraged in a similar fashion to that of the OceanGlider community (https://github.com/OceanGlidersCommunity) to promote open source code development at the community level. This coordinated approach will ensure methodologies and standard operating procedures will be developed amongst the USV community to avoid duplicitous efforts, siloed practices, and provide products that will benefit scientists and USV manufacturers alike. Key QARTOD (Quality Assurance/Quality Control of Real-Time Oceanographic Data) principles, such as quality descriptors and detailed quality flags will be developed following industry-standard codes and manuals (Bushnell, 2017; https://github.com/ioos/ioos_qc). A centralised system to curate and distribute data for stakeholders is essential for managing and disseminating data. For example, CUBEnet (http://oceancube.usm.edu/) has been able to streamline data access for stakeholders and enhance the utility of oceanographic data and address science-based questions in the Gulf of Mexico. By integrating these best practices and leveraging the experiences from the established systems and best practices discussed above, the USV network will develop a cohesive and efficient data management solution for the USV user community.

Each OCG network has a role in GOOS, and its progress towards its specific mission and targets must be tracked. The USV network defines its unique contribution to GOOS as its ability to observe multiple EOVs and ECVs at fine spatio-temporal scales, whilst monitoring broadly at scales of up to tens of thousands of kilometres from seconds to months. The USV network targets remote and difficult to access locational and disciplinary environments.

Recognising that air-sea fluxes are concentrated near fronts, Cronin et al. (2019) proposed that a global network of approximately 1000 platforms deployed as pairs or clusters within 10° by 10° boxes may be a reasonable target (368 boxes would cover the global ocean), playing a similar role to the Argo network target of one float profile per 3° by 3° box every 10 days (Roemmich et al., 2019) or the drifter network target of one drifter per 5° by 5° box (Centurioni, 2018). Alternatively, the USV network may want a target of having repeat transects that can capture the annual mean air-sea fluxes, enabling national and international stocktakes, such as called for by the 2015 Paris Accord (Wanninkhof et al., 2019). Such repeat transects could be referred to as GO-USV transects, as their targets are similar to those of the GO-SHIP network, albeit with a focus on air-sea interaction at more rapid timescales than the GO-SHIP focus on full water column variability over decadal timescales. If these transects were made as a USV cluster, the transect could act like a ‘mobile meso-net’, capturing the multi-scale variability of convective systems that drive much of the air-sea interactions. An example of this type of sampling is being tested in TPOS, where near-annual missions with 2-4 USVs sampling cold pools and convective mesoscale systems as USVs transect through the Inter-tropical convergence zone, and then sample submesoscale SST fronts as they travel into or out of the cold tongue of surface water on the equator (Cronin et al., 2024, 2023; Wills et al., 2023). Once demonstrated, the ‘mobile cluster’ or ‘force-multiplier’ approach to ocean data collection could be transformative to climate and weather science.

At minimum, the USV targets should track the attributes discussed in this section, including metrics related to coverage, number of EOVs and ECVs, applications addressed, and data sets. Defining targets and gaps for future goals requires active community discussion and in some part is likely to be regionally dependent, and progress over time.

Delivery of quality NRT or DM metadata is an essential aspect of a coordinated, global USV network. To date, the existing USV community has been independently managing data and metadata associated with individual projects; some data being stored privately, and other data being made freely available in online catalogues, such as the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI; https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/), Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/), European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet; https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en), and USV manufacturers websites (https://www.saildrone.com/technology/data-sets).

The USV community recognises two key opportunities for delivering quality data and metadata in a frictionless way to global end users as outlined by the GOOS OCG (https://goosocean.org/who-we-are/observations-coordination-group/data-management/). These opportunities are to develop: (1) A central repository for global USV data that follows FAIR, TRUST, and CARE principles, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world (discussed further in Section 7); and (2) Standardisation of USV data and metadata, including various formats for NRT and DM, and for data storage and distribution, discussed below.

A major requirement for metadata quality and delivery is the development and adherence to standards. While there are currently no formal standards for USV metadata collection, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working towards developing a data and metadata template for USVs (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/uncrewed-system-metadata-templates) that, alongside parallel efforts in other nations and agencies, and across different manufacturers, could be harmonised to form standard templates for the network. The USV network will play a major role in establishing open communication lines between industry and scientists to help with the co-development of proposed standards. While reviewing literature for this paper, we found that USV data streams regularly omit important metadata, such as the distance from a sensor to the water level. Changes in the location of the sensor in relation to the water line or USV centre of gravity can alter the way the data should be interpreted. There are opportunities for the network to focus on standard metadata content and data formats for use across the community.

Best practices extend from standardising metadata collection (discussed in Attribute 7) to data collection methodologies from an ecosystem of USV archetypes, and approaches to industry data collection. Adopting standards across a USV network that encompasses industry- and science-operated vehicles and sensors is particularly important for building trust with future scientific and industry end users, including GOOS regional alliances, OCG networks, and industry (Parks et al., 2024). A significant aspect that is continually identified within the scientific USV end-user community has been the lack of certainty around data collected from a non-spherical, propelled platform. An important, and typically overlooked practice is to perform intercomparison studies to describe and account for uncertainties in the powered motion of the USV and the hydrodynamic responses of the hull, which differ compared to a moored spherical buoy, and may be specific to certain variables. This is particularly important for the measurement of wave spectra, which is an under-sampled ocean variable but a key variable for calculating air-sea fluxes (Thomson and Girton, 2017; Amador et al., 2023; Colosi et al., 2023).

Intercomparisons between USVs and established monitoring platforms of known precision and uncertainty, under a range of different conditions are a fundamental process for the trusted adoption of USVs by the scientific community. However, there are challenges associated with these intercomparisons, especially in remote locations, extreme conditions, and/or regions of high natural variability (Sabine et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2019a). Moored buoys are likely the most useful for this purpose, as they remain in fixed locations and provide standard near-surface ocean and atmospheric measurements.

The USV community would benefit from a standardised USV intercomparisons methodology, and a common database of data intercomparisons across a wide range of ocean-atmosphere conditions and USV platform archetypes to determine strengths and weaknesses of different USV platforms and gain confidence in the use of the data for scientific analysis and data assimilation. The USV network will, in collaboration with manufacturers, develop standards for data processing and data quality control (QC) of the platforms and instruments, with the aim of ensuring that data published according to these guidance and standards are of the highest quality and can be used for multiple applications. An assessment of existing standards and recommended practices will be done and where applicable expanded. In order to ensure knowledge sharing and community uptake, the outcomes of this work will be published in OBPS (https://www.oceanbestpractices.org/) and maintained by the network. Developing standards and best practices will be an opportunity to work with USV manufacturers to ensure that the scientific needs of USVs for certain applications and environments are made available.

An important aspect of the USV network is its relative advantage in reaching remote and under-sampled locations, which aligns with the GOOS mission to promote feasible, high-impact observing programs. These regions often lack the resources to deploy traditional observatories, and USVs present a compelling option for extending coverage to the archipelagos of southeast Asia, central America, and the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. The existing data ( Figure 3 ) show notable coverage in very remote locations, including prolific adoption in the tropical Pacific, and we can see that isolated USV deployments occur in other remote and under-sampled locations, such as Australia’s northern regions (the Timor and Arafura Seas), central America’s archipelagos, northern parts of South America, and the western African coastline, associated with voyages out of the Canary Islands. Notably, no USV tracks are available in the Indian Ocean, which may present an opportunity to extend multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary co-located observations for the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), as strongly noted in the 2019 IndOOS roadmap (Beal et al., 2019; Hermes et al., 2019; Beal et al., 2020).

There are substantial opportunities for USV capacity development via comprehensive training and capacity-building programs aimed at developing the technical skills in oceanographic data collection and management (McKenna et al., 2023). These programs are designed to cover various aspects of USV operation, data acquisition, data processing, and interpretation using advanced analytical tools to better position a changing workforce as well as specifically target a young audience in pursuit of ocean science education and employment. USV technological adoption empowers maritime professionals in enhancing operational capabilities and data handling proficiency as well as provides an on-ramp for educational, and vocational programs.

A sustained USV network will potentially be one of the greatest challenges, and a key component to sustainment will be a steady finance stream. Historically and in the near future, the existing missions have and will be individually funded through 2-5 year research grants. However, there is often synergy between intensive process studies (discussed in Attribute 1) and long-term monitoring that can provide seasonal-to-interannual cost recovery, which could help support a sustained USV network. Another strategy to obtain sustained observations might be to take advantage of transits from future USV service stations, particularly ones located in the global south. Ultimately through economies of scale, we can expect that a threshold will be reached where it is more economical to plan as a sustained observing network rather than as one-off missions. For example, USVs could be recovered and redeployed by refurbishing the platform and integrating fresh sensors, similar to how moorings are turned around in sustained long-term mooring networks.

In the context of meeting this attribute, the network is more likely to be sustained if the other attributes are met: data management, a community of practice, data and metadata standards and best practices, governance structure and the setting and delivery of network targets and metrics will all drive and ensure a sustained and burgeoning network.