LAKELAND, Fla. – They call themselves mad scientists. Many others call them crazy. Whichever you choose, it is a spot-on characterization of the Hurricane Hunters, a collection of scientists who fly directly into Mother Nature’s most ferocious storms.
The purpose of the Hurricane Hunters’ mission is to collect crucial data on the health and condition of a tropical cyclone to create a more accurate forecast for the public.
By now, we all know about these Hurricane Hunter planes. They’ve, in fact, been in service for 50 years, but behind the scenes, NOAA is experimenting with some new toys to bring hurricane hunting to the next generation, like specialized drones.
These Black Swift drones are ejected from the Hurricane Hunter and fly through the violent eyewall and boundary layer - collecting data such as temperature, wind speed and direction, and dewpoints at multiple levels of the storm, including areas previously too dangerous to measure, while the ocean gliders measure parameters at the surface before, during, and after a storm.
It is too dangerous for the planes to fly really low over the surface of the ocean. These uncrewed systems are really helping to fill in that gap and allow for more data and more accurate information to get to the forecasters so they can make better forecasts.
This invaluable data is transmitted in real time back to the team onboard, then relayed to the National Hurricane Center, where it feeds into their modeling, including their new experimental AI model.
While this new technology is advancing our hurricane forecasting capabilities, the Hurricane Hunters have no plans to switch to a fully automated system. The passion to protect their communities remains the core pillar of the Hurricane Hunter mission.
As another hurricane season approaches, the hunters are ready. Armed with smarter tech, advanced tools, and a passion that has spanned half a century.