This weekend, NASA is launching a six-week mission to study the formation and intensification of hurricanes, hoping to inform forecast models and improve hurricane prediction abilities. The GRIP experiment (for Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes) involves more than a dozen satellite-quality scientific instruments onboard a Global Hawk unmanned drone, a converted WB-57 cold-war bomber and a modified DC-8.
Ramesh Kakar, the weather focus area leader for NASA's science programs, says the goal is to improve understanding of the physical processes that generate hurricanes. He hopes forecasters will assimilate GRIP data into their prediction models, improving forecasts and providing earlier warning for communities in a burgeoning hurricane's path.
Note: Chapter 16 of my book is a case study on the National Hurricane Center which uses satellites, ocean based sensors, dropsondes and the “Hurricane Hunters” to analyze tracks of intense storms once they are formed
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