2020 Hurricane Field Program Plan Released

The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially begins today, and HRD has released its annual Field Program Plan in suppler of the Intensity Forecasting EXperiment (IFEX). IFEX has been developed in partnership with NOAA’s Environmental Modeling Center and the National Hurricane Center. Its goal is to better our understanding and prediction of hurricane intensity change by …

HRD Debrief for missions into 2019 Sheared Storms – 18 February 2020

HRD researchers discussed the results from the 14 P-3 and 8 G-IV missions into sheared Hurricanes Barry, AL02 (10–12 July 2019), Humberto, AL09 (13–16 September 2019 ), Jerry, AL10 (18–22 September 2019), and Lorenzo, AL13 (26 – 29 September 2019). The format of the debrief was different than in the past. A brief overview is …

HRD Debrief for missions into Hurricane Dorian – 30 January 2020

HRD researchers discussed the results from the 15 P-3 and 10 G-IV missions into Hurricane Dorian, AL05 (26 August - 5 September 2019). The format of the debrief was different than in the past. A brief overview is provided of the storm and missions, followed by a series of 8 short presentations discussing planned and …

2019 Hurricane Field Program Season in Review and Hotwash, 13 November 2019

The purpose of the season review and "hotwash" is to review the highlights from the season and discuss what went right / what went wrong / and what could be done better in the future with respect to Hurricane Field Program operations/plans/logistics, as well as provide feedback to AOC about the aircraft and their operations. …

Hurricane Field Program Update — Thursday, October 17, 2019, 5pm EDT

We are planning two flights into Potential Tropical Cyclone 16 for Friday.  The first, with NOAA42, will depart Lakeland at 0800 EDT (1200 UTC) and perform a lawnmower pattern through and around the system The second, with NOAA43, will depart 12 hour later, and perform a butterfly pattern Both will return to Lakeland.  Both missions …

Hurricane Field Program Update — Sunday, September 29, 2019, 10pm EDT

All three NOAA aircraft flew in and around Hurricane Lorenzo today, with both P3s flying the same tracks (at 8 and 10 kft) through the storm within 15 minutes of each other. The G-IV departed the storm just as the P3s were entering. The G-IV flew an HRD research mission in support of the NESDIS …

Hurricane Field Program Update — Friday, September 27, 2019, 5pm EDT

All three aircraft, NOAA42, NOAA43, and NOAA49, are now in Barbados due to Hurricane Lorenzo.  NOAA43 spent today conducting a search-and-rescue mission for the tug supply vessel Bourbon Rhode, while NOAA49 conducted its mission as scheduled.  For tomorrow, NOAA42 will conduct another search-and-rescue mission for the tug, while NOAA43 and NOAA49 conduct research missions. NOAA49 will …

Hurricane Field Program Update — Thursday, September 26, 2019, 5pm EDT

Both NOAA43 and NOAA49 are now in Barbados prepared for missions into Hurricane Lorenzo.  NOAA49 will conduct a NESDIS Satellite Validation and Diurnal Cycle Experiment, takeoff from Barbados 0800 AST/EDT (1200 UTC).  The goal is to sample the region around Lorenzo, including the Saharan Air Layer, and regions deemed sensitive to future forecasts.  There will …

Hurricane Field Program Update — Wednesday, September 25, 2019, 5pm EDT

In preparation for research flights into Hurricane Lorenzo, both NOAA43 and NOAA49 will ferry from Lakeland to Barbados Thursday, 26 September.  NOAA43 will depart at 1000 EDT (1400 UTC) and NOAA49 will leave one hour later.  More details on the specific missions will be provided in tomorrow's update. For the latest information about tropical cyclones …

Hurricane Field Program Update — Friday, September 20, 2019, 5pm EDT

NOAA49 will conduct a tropical cyclone in shear research in and around Hurricane Jerry.  Takeoff will be from Barbados at 1330 AST (1730 UTC), with recovery in Lakeland about 8 hours later.  NOAA42 will be conducting an operational INVEST mission into AL99 just to the east of the Windward Islands, with takeoff at 1030 AST …