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Tropical storm systems can be extremely dangerous, so getting good data about them is essential.
Weather forecasters and researchers rely on imagery and data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R Series satellitesto help provide early warning to save lives and protect property — and also to better understand how these powerful storms develop and grow.
A little closer to home, NOAA also has a fleet of “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft, whose pilots navigate the “high-flying meteorological stations” above, around and even through hurricanes. These planes collect data that works together with satellite information, giving scientists a clearer picture and improving forecast models with each flight.
Space.com had the opportunity to meet one of the two types of Hurricane Hunter aircraft while they were at Cape Canaveral in Florida ahead of the launch of NOAA’s GOES-U satellite, who resigned in late June. I asked the pilots what they are most looking forward to with the final part of it GOES-R satellite constellation going to space.
“GOES-U is going to provide high-quality data that will help us plan pre-flight and know what the storm is doing, how it’s developing, what it looks like so we have the best idea before we’ll go in and fly our missions into the storm,” Lt. Christopher Wood, aircraft commander of NOAA’s Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, told Space.com.
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“ In addition, the solar information that he will be able to provide is helpful, because often we are far outside the range of regular radio and we rely on high frequency [HF] communication, and they can certainly have an impact on those at any type of solar event that’s going on,” Wood said. “It’s going to be critical for us to maintain communication as well.”
Space.com was able to get a tour of one of the two at NOAA’s disposal Gulfstream IV-SP (G-IV) aircraft, nicknamed Gonzo, capable of flying at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,716 meters) ahead of, above and around a storm to gather information about where it is headed. The other two planes in the fleet are NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion (P-3) models to fly in and through a storm at an altitude of 8,000 to 10,000 feet (2,438 to 3,048 m), sending back data on its intensity and anatomy.
“Our job is to get out [and] Collect the in situ data that complements all the satellite data being provided by the GOES series,” Nick Underwood, an aerospace engineer with NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters, told Space.com
“It’s all of that together, just like the planes working together to give us that complete picture of the storm – the satellite data is just another layer on that sandwich that allows us to understand the structure and movements of the storm really. It’s all complementary it’s all valid and vital to the forecasters.”
The G-IV has been on missions for almost every Atlantic-based tropical system since 1997. It investigates the area around the storm using Download gps dropwindson and Doppler tail radar. The dropwindsondes are deployed like parachutes and take measurements vertically through the storm’s atmosphere. This helps paint a picture of how high-altitude steering currents affect where a hurricane is headed.
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“These instruments collect temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and wind direction. This is a newer instrument that we are launching Current Sondes collects all the same data that the other dropsondes do, but these are able to stay aloft for a little longer to provide a little more data,” Underwood said.
“Outside of our P-3s, over the last few years we’ve been launching unmanned aerial systems,” he said. “It’s a small drone that you can drop from the P-3, and this can go down to a much lower altitude than the plane can safely get to collect some data that we wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.”
The P-3s and G-IVs play a huge role in gathering information during hurricane season, but Hurricane Hunter crews stay busy year-round, undertaking other severe weather missions and atmospheric research programs through NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, located in Lakeland, Florida. NOAA Corps pilots also take the aircraft out to gather information to help scientists better understand the different types of weather conditions around the world.
