Hurricane season is here, and hurricane forecasters and scientists are busy watching thunderstorms roll across the oceans to see which ones might develop into hurricanes. A hurricane is a storm that forms in the tropics of the southern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Hurricane scientists have many tools to help them study these storms, and one of the very best ways is to fly right into the center using hurricane hunter airplanes.
Hurricane hunter airplanes are flying laboratories designed to withstand the strong winds and rough environment within the hurricane. They fly directly into and around the edge of storms to collect data. Scientists and forecasters use this data to determine how strong a storm is. They also feed the data into models to forecast or predict where the hurricane will go and how strong it will become.
However, the hurricane hunter aircraft typically don’t fly below 5,000 feet, as this part of the storm is extremely turbulent and can be too dangerous for an aircraft carrying people. Scientists now have a new tool to collect data in the lowest part of the hurricane: the Coyote unmanned aircraft system, or UAS. UAS are aircraft that are flown with remote controls — just more sophisticated versions of the radio-controlled model airplanes you may fly at home! Flying the Coyote UAS in the lower part of a hurricane is a safe way to get very important data to improve hurricane forecasts.
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the Coyote into a hurricane for the first time in 2014, into the eye of Hurricane Edouard. The small, seven-pound aircraft deployed from a chute in the belly of the hurricane hunter, floated on its parachute until it opened its six-foot wingspan, and flew through the storm about 1,000 feet above the churning ocean.
The Coyote can be controlled or piloted from miles away but is typically piloted by scientists onboard the hurricane hunter aircraft. Its lightweight design requires the Coyote to fly with the wind currents, but it can be directed up, down and sideways to navigate specific flight patterns during its typical one-to two-hour flight.
The Coyote’s primary mission is to measure air pressure, temperature, moisture and wind speed inside the storm. It also has a sensor to measure sea surface temperatures in and around a storm. These observations could help scientists better understand how a hurricane pulls energy from the ocean — and how strong it could become.
Scientists search for better ways to study and observe hurricanes with one goal in mind: improve hurricane forecasts and save lives. Communities and families like yours rely on NOAA to provide an accurate forecast of when and where a hurricane may impact their community.
Using new technologies such as the Coyote UAS also allow NOAA to make better forecasts of how strong a storm will be, so that your family can be prepared and stay safe.
