NOAA planes ready for hurricane research

This P-3 aircraft flies at low altitudes through the wall of a hurricane and into the eye in order to gather information about the storm

June 11, 1999
Web posted at: 1:55PM EDT

With the 1999 hurricane season just beginning and predicted to be as active as last year's, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has readied its hurricane hunter airplanes for reconnaissance and research.

NOAA employs two types of aircraft for these missions: two WP-3D Orion turboprop planes, and one Gulfstream IV SP (Special Performance). The planes are based at NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa, Florida.

All the airplanes are heavily modified for their jobs as hurricane hunters, carrying all variety of atmospheric and meteorological data collection equipment. Scientists use the instruments to record data about the conditions through which the planes are flying.

The information gathered on these missions is fed into numerical computer models at NOAA's National Research Division. These computer models are used for real-time observations of a current hurricane, and also help researchers better understand storm processes so they can refine forecasting models for future hurricanes.

Improved hurricane forecasting helps save lives and minimize damage to property by giving people in threatened areas time to prepare. Forecasters can also be more precise about where hurricanes will make landfall, and thereby save untold millions of dollars.

"The cost of preparing for the onset of a hurricane is about $1 million per one mile of coastline," said Lt. Mark Moran of NOAA Public Affairs. These costs include procuring emergency materials, providing temporary shelter and food for evacuated residents, closing and moving hospitals and so on.

NOAA has used the two P-3 aircraft for low-altitude hurricane research since the mid-1970s. These planes fly at 1,500 to 10,000 feet directly into the wall of the hurricane and through to the relative calm of the eye. During these stints, the plane can encounter all that a hurricane has to offer, from hail to driving rain to extreme turbulence.

At this point the pilots have to "let Mother Nature fly the plane for a bit," said Lt. Mark Moran, as there really is no way to combat these forces of nature. These P-3 flights are very dangerous and only highly trained NOAA Corps pilots are qualified for the job. The NOAA Corps is the smallest uniformed service in the country. Members of this corps both fly and maintain the planes.

The Gulfstream IV is new to NOAA's hurricane hunter fleet, flying hurricane surveillance missions only since 1997. This aircraft has a much higher cruising altitude of 45,000 feet. The G-IV flies into the currents of air that steer a hurricane, gathering information about the atmosphere high above and around the storm.

The information from the G-IV has proven to complement the information from P-3s very well. Scientists report that the addition of the G-IV to the fleet has improved the forecasting of hurricanes by approximately 20 percent.

One of the most interesting research instruments used by the scientists aboard these planes is the GPS (Global Positioning System) dropwindsonde. These small devices are dropped from the planes and fall to Earth at a rate of 2,000 meters per minute. Each has a small chute used to stabilize its downward journey.

Twice every second, the dropwindsondes take five meteorological measurements: temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and barometric pressure. These instruments provide a very detailed picture of the storm from the altitude where they were dropped until it hits land or sea, in essence taking a core sample of the hurricane.

The information gathered by the dropwindsondes is transmitted by satellite to the National Hurricane center in Miami, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, Md., and the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Center, all three of which are NOAA institutions.

The official start of the 1999 hurricane season was June 1 and there hasn't been much action so far. "Nothing has developed yet," said Lt. Moran, "but we are ready to go."

When hurricane season is over, the NOAA planes are used for other atmospheric and meteorological research in the U.S. and around the world.

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