Five Tools Used to Monitor Hurricanes You've Probably Never Heard Of

Jonathan Belles
Published: July 27,2016
We are so often used to using radar imagery and satellite views to monitor hurricanes and typhoons that we can forget how limiting that technology can be.
There are five more tools that meteorologists use to fill in gaps, tools you probably have never heard of.

ISS-RapidScat

On the International Space Station (ISS), there is a tool that is continuing to grow in benefit to both meteorologists and tropical and marine forecasts. This tool is called RapidScat.
Aboard the ISS, this instrument circles the globe numerous times per day measuring winds on the ocean's surface.
This gives meteorologists the unique ability to gather information about hurricanes in the middle of our vast oceans.
Information in these 560-mile wide swaths includes wind speed and a good idea about wind direction, which in turn gives meteorologists a great idea about the location of hurricanes and how strong they are. This is also useful when trying to decipher if a tropical depression with a closed center has formed. This task is difficult to do without the Hurricane Hunters sometimes, and without visible satellite imagery, it can be impossible.

The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station measures Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction over open waters. Surface wind speed is always lower than speeds at higher altitude. RapidScat is an important tool for meteorologists, because it shows forecasters the location of the strongest winds in different quadrants of an area of low pressure or tropical cyclone as they are not always equally distributed.
(NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Alex Wineteer)

Coming Attractions: GOES-R

In November, the first of four satellites in a new generation of satellite technology will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
GOES-R is a geostationary satellite — meaning it stays in one spot hovering above the Earth — that will capture images of weather and water systems as often as every 30 seconds, at least doubling our current frequency of images. This will allow meteorologists to produce earlier and more accurate warnings.
Although this satellite is not yet in orbit, we are benefitting from many of its products already. Proving grounds are simulating many of the upcoming products and their increased frequency.
In addition to the increased frequency of images, we will also get new kinds of imagery that we do not get right now. This new suite of products includes a lightning mapper, information about our magnetosphere and geomagnetic field, and a space weather early detection system.
This generation of satellites will cement the future of weather satellites through at least 2036.

The GOES-R satellite recently completed acoustics testing at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado. Acoustics testing uses high-intensity horns to subject the satellite to the extreme sound pressure that simulates the noise created when the rocket is launched. The test verified the satellite will function normally after experiencing these strong acoustic vibrations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dropsondes

Dropsondes are basically reverse travelling weather balloons. They are released by NOAA, NASA, and Air Force Reserve aircraft into and around hurricanes to learn more about temperature, moisture content, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction.
They "drop" from the aircraft to the sea surface below collecting data all the way to splashdown, and some types of dropsondes collect data in the ocean.
Not only do dropsondes collect information from the inside of storms, but they also collect information about the environment surrounding storms. This information is embedded into weather models, which in turn helps forecasters develop more accurate forecasts.

Left: Example GPS Dropsonde. Right: Example of a dropsonde sounding during Hurricane Ike on September 11, 2008 - 1105 UTC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Hawk

In addition to the Hurricane Hunters, NASA occasionally sends out an unmanned aerial drone called a Global Hawk to study hurricanes.
Since they are unmanned, there is no risk to human life if things go wrong, and the craft can stay in a storm or hurricane longer than a manned flight could. These craft can stay aloft for 18 or more hours and travel as far as 8,500 miles, which allows for  more data collection on their own or in conjunction with other hurricane hunter flights. These flights can also drop many more dropsondes than can be done on a manned flight, and from a higher altitude.

A flight of the unmanned Global Hawk aerial drone over Hurricane Edouard in 2014. Dropsondes were released during this mission from as high as 62,000 feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Microwave Imagery

Some satellites have the ability to peer inside of clouds at numerous layers of a storm using microwave technology. This is sort of similar to how x-rays or cat scans work at the doctors office.
Meteorologists can see the structures inside of hurricanes including eyes, rain bands and eyewalls.
These details give forecasters a better idea of how strong a hurricane is, and whether it is weakening or strengthening. During the developing stages of a tropical storm, these images can give us the first sign that an eye is forming even before geostationary satellites.

Hurricane Georgette on microwave imagery from the SSMIS Satellite. Reds indicate strong towering thunderstorms while blues indicate warmer clouds and the ocean's relatively warmer surface.
(Naval Research Laboratory)

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