Aircraft Operations Center

27°58′52″N 82°00′57″W

NOAA's two Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft along with a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (foreground) and a Beechcraft King Air inside the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center hangar in Lakeland, Florida.

The Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) is the main base for the nine aircraft of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government, including the NOAA Hurricane Hunters.

It is the home of the he NOAA Aircraft Operations Center houses multiple light aircraft, and three Hurricane Hunters aircraft. This base plays a large role every hurricane season, supporting NOAA flights in and around tropical cyclones for research and forecasting.

The AOC has been located at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida, since June 2017 and is under the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. The AOC resided at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, from January 1993 to June 2017.[1]

Aircraft

NOAA operates a fleet of nine crewed aircraft:

  • Two Lockheed WP-3D Orion – heavily instrumented turboprops used for hurricane hunting nicknamed "Kermit" (N42RF) and "Miss Piggy" (N43RF)
  • One Gulfstream IV-SP (G-IV) – twin turbofan jet aircraft for high-altitude hurricane research
  • Four De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter – twin turboprop for marine mammal, hydrological, remote sensing, air chemistry and emergency response programs
  • Two Beechcraft King Air 350CER – twin turboprop aircraft for coastal mapping, snow and soil moisture surveys, and emergency response

See also

References
  1. "NOAA awards 10-year lease to City of Lakeland, Florida, to house NOAA Aircraft Operations Center". NOAA. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.


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