GLOBAL CHALLENGES

NASA to Use Drone Plane for Hurricane Research

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 08-24-10 | Comments

NASA is about to begin the largest hurricane experiment ever conducted. A fleet of satellites and planes, including a high-tech drone, will combine to measure how tropical storms form and intensify into full-blown hurricanes.

Table of Contents:

NASA to Use Drone Plane for Hurricane Research - Comparing Data

Engineers prepare Global Hawk, a high-tech drone plane that will continuously measure developing hurricanes (source: NASA).

"That's what makes this really unique, the ability to observe one of these storms up close as it changes over its life-cycle. Before, we've only been able to get a few hours of data at a time," GRIP Project Manager Marilyn Vasques said in the press release. "We want to see storms that become hurricanes, and we want to see some that don't become hurricanes, so we can compare the data. The same is true for hurricane intensification."

"When you think of analyzing it later, we want to break down what the temperatures were, what the winds were doing, what the aerosol concentration was, to see if we can start detecting a pattern," Vasques stated.

Several state-of-the-art instruments are used in the experiment. A powerful microwave radiometer, for example, allows scientists to study a hurricane�s huge convection towers. Additionally, a high-tech �lidar� (laser radar) takes measurements of wind speed in three dimensions�not just in the cardinal directions, but also vertically.

"This is one of the most exciting points in my career," said Ramesh Kakar, GRIP Program Manager and lead of NASA's recently formed Hurricane Science Research Team. "Satellites can only get a brief glimpse of what is happening inside a hurricane, and we get very excited about seeing that. Now imagine if you could watch a storm unfold for 20 hours."

For updates on the project, which will continue through Sept. 25, check out the GRIP mission�s home page. Do you live in an area that could be affected by a hurricane? Tell us your reactions to this research project in the comments section below.