This year, Matthew has already caused great damage and casualties in Haiti and Cuba and when these lines are written in the US, the hurricane has touched down in South Carolina causing significant damage and casualties in at least three states. Although it has already degraded to category 1 and it seems that Florida has been spared its devastating effects.
Therefore, in the US there is an organization that receives the name of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and that is responsible for studying what hurricanes are like and for helping scientists gain a better understanding of the processes that are generated in these storms by improving the predictive weather models.
To do this, their planes get into the eye of the hurricane. If you have heard well, they get into the center of the storm to provide real-time data on the structure of the storm, the intensity, the different layers of which it is composed, among other data.
It should be said that NOAA is not only dedicated to the study of the atmosphere, but also to the study of the environment through the collection of specialized data for the conservation and administration of marine and coastal resources, and therefore for the protection of lives and property in the same.
Among its large media, NOAA has a fleet of aircraft integrated into a delegation known as OMAO (Office of Marine and Aviation Operations), and which is capable of operating worldwide and with a wide range of resources for the recognition of hurricanes and their investigation.
In these lines we will discover these planes and the actions they perform each time they go out in search of and capture some of these atmospheric phenomena.
The fleet consists of several airplanes of different types that are dedicated to different tasks, and among them are:
- Two Lockheed WP-3D Orion.
- A Gulfstream IV-SP.
- A Beechcraft King Air.
- Two Gulfstream Jet Prop Aero Commander.
- Two Havilland Twin Otter.
All the aircraft in this particular fleet are ready to fly at any time they are required (mission-ready) and with their scientific staff ready at any time.
In addition, NOAA has several RPAS Systems for the observation of marine life and bird fauna and their habitat.
The NOAA began operating airplanes for hurricane research in 1961, and was originally named RFF (Research Flight Facility). In the beginning, it was equipped with two Douglas DC-6, a B-57A and a DC-4. Nine years later, in 1970, a WC-130B was provided by the Air Force and was integrated into the operations of this agency.
In 1973, the first two WP-3D Orion were acquired and put into service, but in 1975 they would be replaced by two new devices of the same type, and the DC-6, the B-57A and the DC-4 were finally removed.
In 1983 the OAO (Office of Aircraft Operations) was created and equipped with two WP-3D Orion devices, a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, a Beech C-90 King Air, two Rockwell Aero Commanders and two helicopters helicopters Bell type 212.
This entire fleet, in 1993, is transferred to its current operational base or AOC (Aircraft Operations Center), MacDill Air Base in Tampa, Florida.
For the dangerous task of getting into the eye of the hurricane, whipped by the tremendous winds, rain and hail along the route and added to the violent up and down currents due to changes in atmospheric pressure, during a mission of 8 to 10 hours long, NOAA relies on its two P-3 Orion (“Kermit” and “Miss Piggy”) and the gulfstream G-IV (“storm chaser”).
We will see how they are equipped and what they are able to do in the hurricane once they get into it.
The P-3 is equipped with instruments that continuously transmit measurements of wind pressure, temperature, direction and speed, providing a detailed view of the storm’s structure and intensity. In addition, the doppler radar on the tail or Tail Doppler Radar (TDR) scans the storm vertically and horizontally, giving scientists real-time an electronic representation of the storm.
Also, the P-3 is equipped with launchable probes called “bathyttographs” that measure sea temperature, as well as with SFMRs (Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometers) that measure wind speed over the ocean and rain intensity in hurricanes and tropical storms, these being key indicators to know the danger and possible death of the storm in case it hits land.
In addition to conducting research to help scientists better understand hurricanes and other types of tropical cyclones, NOAA P-3s also participate alongside WC-130J aircraft of the 53rd reserve squad, in reconnaissance missions of storms commissioned by the National Hurricane Center, in which they try to locate the center of the storm and measure the pressure in the center and the winds around the eye.
With the information obtained on these flights, they contribute directly to the safety of people who live closer to the coast and may be more affected.
This Gulfstream IV is the perfect complement since it can fly higher, faster and at a greater distance (up to 4,000 nm/45,000 feet) and give an accurate and detailed picture of the atmospheric systems in the upper part of the atmosphere surrounding the hurricane that is I’m studying So that it perfectly complements the data that the P-3 collects at a lower altitude.
Like the P-3, it is equipped with a Doppler radar in the tail (TDR) and GPS sensors that help meteorologists to estimate the storm movement and thus know the influence of the hurricane movement.
The primary instrument of the airplane for the study that is carried out on board, is a “tube” located in the lower part of the plane called “GPS wind probe” that is released from the device to measure and transmit to the scientific instruments on board the pressure, the humidity and the falling gusts that occur to earth in the storm.
In addition, the doppler capacity of the TDR allows to know the horizontal and vertical components of the winds that occur in these descending gusts and thus know the intensity of tropical cyclones. Thanks to these components you can know the different layers of which the storm is composed and help weather forecasts and improve them.
After analyzing and processing the data from this probe, the information is formatted and sent to the National Center for Meteorological Predictions or National Centers for Environmental Prediction NECP, and even to the National Hurricane Center for data to be included in the predictive models, at time that is also given to the experts themselves so that they can observe in real time the evolution of the hurricane.
In addition, the G-IV is used by NOAA to collect important data before winter storms by studying the moisture bands that regularly form over the Pacific Ocean and flow to the west coast of North America.
During the months in which it is not a hurricane season in the US, the P-3 and the G-IV fly around the world in a wide variety of atmospheric conditions by conducting scientific atmospheric research programs.
Source: Hispaviacion
