NOAA and Saildrone Mission Control worked together to task the vehicles into as many storms as possible. The vehicles were strategically positioned in five operational areas that have a high likelihood of encountering a hurricane, based on historical track data. The observations collected would be used to understand how ocean-atmosphere interaction affects hurricane intensity and improve hurricane prediction models. The goal of the mission was to measure near-surface atmospheric and upper-ocean parameters to calculate energy and momentum fluxes between the atmosphere and ocean outside and within hurricanes. In July 2021, NOAA and Saildrone deployed five Explorer uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) equipped with ruggedized “hurricane wings” designed especially for operating in winds over 90 mph and waves over 50 feet. To improve understanding of hurricane rapid intensification, scientists need to understand the ocean processes that are occurring as intensity increases, which means collecting data immediately before and during a storm. While NOAA has made steady progress in forecasting the track of a hurricane, forecasting hurricane rapid intensification (wind speeds increasing 35 mph in 24 hours or less) remains a big challenge.
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