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| Location | Lakeland Linder International Airport  |
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The NOAA Hurricane Hunters are a group of aircraft used for hurricane reconnaissance by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They fly through hurricanes to help forecasters and scientists gather operational and research data. The crews also conduct other research projects including ocean wind studies, winter storm research, thunderstorm research, coastal erosion, and air chemistry flights.
The Hurricane Hunters belong to the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), located at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida, United States. The Aircraft Operations Center is a complement of commissioned personnel from the NOAA Commissioned Corps, federal employees and contractors under the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), which is a line office of the NOAA, which is in turn an agency of the Department of Commerce. The AOC resided at Hangar 5 of MacDill AFB from January 1993 to June 2017. [1] [2]
NOAA uses two Lockheed WP-3D Orion turboprops to fly through hurricanes and a Gulfstream IV-SP which flies around the upper fringes of storms to get a read on steering currents. [3] The NOAA also uses light aircraft for some of its research. With permission from Jim Henson Productions, NOAA's P-3s are nicknamed Kermit the Frog (N42RF) and Miss Piggy (N43RF). The G-IV (N49RF) is nicknamed Gonzo . [4] NOAA has announced that they have awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to produce two modern WC-130J Hercules aircraft to replace the aged WP-3D Orion. [5]
The WP-3D Orion was designed to tolerate large amounts of turbulence since it flies through the eyes of hurricanes. [6] The WP-3 can be thought of as a flying research lab as it is equipped to take atmospheric measurements. One of the most distinctive parts of the WP-3 is the prominent black, circular belly radome.
Staffed with 18 to 20 crew members, including pilots and scientists, a normal hurricane reconnaissance or research mission can last from 9–10 hours, while a surveillance ("fix" mission) mission will typically last 8 hours, often in rotation with WC-130 flights from the Air Force Reserve Command's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (53 WRS) at six-hour intervals. Most often, the scientists and crew aboard the aircraft deploy dropsondes with GPS which collect and transmit data as they descend toward the ocean. Once this data is received and checked by the crew, it is sent to the NOAA National Hurricane Center for analysis. Other data is collected and transmitted by request. Personnel on board include pilots, navigators, engineers, technicians, and flight meteorologists (Flight Directors).
Past projects use the WP-3 have included low level jet observation over South America, a bow echo and mesoscale convective study in the Midwest, and ocean wind satellite verification missions over the Northern Atlantic and Pacific.
The WC-130J Hercules, the replacement for the WP-3D Orion, will able to tolerate large amounts of turbulence flying through the hurricanes. The new aircraft will "accommodate larger science payloads. They will be equipped with a variety of updated instrumentation developed from experience with NOAA’s current WP-3D Orion aircraft and from across the U.S. government." These aircraft are expected to enter service in 2030. [7]
The Gulfstream IV-SP is a high altitude jet that can fly up to 45,000 feet. The G-IV crew is similar to the WP-3 and includes NOAA Corps aviators, engineers, technicians, and a flight meteorologists (Flight Director).
The G-IV flies around the periphery of both tropical and winter storms, including hurricanes, and deploys dropsondes in order to gather data about the surrounding environment. This information is used to help predict the path of hurricanes. Dropsonde transmissions are collected and checked by an on-board Flight Director, who then transmits the data to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for analysis.
The G-IV serves the NCEP Winter Storm Reconnaissance program in order to better predict the location and intensity of winter storms that affect the United States. During winter storm reconnaissance, air chemistry measurements are also taken from the upper troposphere. These flights are typically flown from Honolulu, Anchorage, or Yokota AB, Japan.
The Lockheed WP-3D Orion is a highly modified P-3 Orion used by the Aircraft Operations Center division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The aircraft are operated by officers of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. Only two of these aircraft exist, each incorporating numerous features for the role of collecting weather information. During the Atlantic hurricane season, the WP-3Ds are deployed for duty as hurricane hunters. The aircraft also support research on other topics, such as Arctic ice coverage, air chemistry studies, and ocean water temperature and current analysis.
The Lockheed WC-130 is a high-wing, medium-range aircraft used for weather reconnaissance missions by the United States Air Force. The aircraft is a modified version of the C-130 Hercules transport configured with specialized weather instrumentation including a dropsonde deployment/receiver system and crewed by a meteorologist for penetration of tropical cyclones and winter storms to obtain data on movement, size and intensity.
The Gulfstream IV and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States, from 1985 until 2018. Aircraft power is provided by two Rolls-Royce RB.183 Tay turbofans.
Hurricane hunters, typhoon hunters, or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In the United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Hunters. Such missions have also been flown by Navy units and other Air Force and NOAA units. Other organizations also fly these missions, such as Government Flying Service Hong Kong.
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known by its nickname, Hurricane Hunters, is a flying unit of the United States Air Force, and "the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes." Aligned under the 403rd Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, with ten aircraft, it flies into tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Central Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. The 53rd WRS currently operates the Lockheed WC-130J aircraft as its weather data collection platform.
A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure storm conditions as the device falls to the surface. The sonde contains a GPS receiver, along with pressure, temperature, and humidity (PTH) sensors to capture atmospheric profiles and thermodynamic data. It typically relays this data to a computer in the aircraft by radio transmission.
The Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) is the main aircraft base for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government, under the operation of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. AOC houses 10 NOAA aircraft, including the Hurricane Hunters.
The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which operates a wide variety of specialized ships and aircraft to carry out the environmental and scientific missions of NOAA.
James Louis Franklin is a former weather forecaster encompassing a 35-year career with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He served as the first branch chief of the newly formed Hurricane Specialist Unit (HSU) before his retirement in 2017.
Tropical cyclone observation has been carried out over the past couple of centuries in various ways. The passage of typhoons, hurricanes, as well as other tropical cyclones have been detected by word of mouth from sailors recently coming to port or by radio transmissions from ships at sea, from sediment deposits in near shore estuaries, to the wiping out of cities near the coastline. Since World War II, advances in technology have included using planes to survey the ocean basins, satellites to monitor the world's oceans from outer space using a variety of methods, radars to monitor their progress near the coastline, and recently the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles to penetrate storms. Recent studies have concentrated on studying hurricane impacts lying within rocks or near shore lake sediments, which are branches of a new field known as paleotempestology. This article details the various methods employed in the creation of the hurricane database, as well as reconstructions necessary for reanalysis of past storms used in projects such as the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis.
Hurricane Debby was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 1982 Atlantic hurricane season, with sustained winds reaching 130 mph (210 km/h). The fourth named storm, second hurricane, and the only major hurricane of the season, Debby developed near the north coast of Hispaniola from a westward moving tropical wave on September 13. Forming as a tropical depression, it headed northwestward and strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby the following day. Thereafter, Debby rapidly intensified into a hurricane early on September 15. The hurricane then curved northeastward and grazed Bermuda as a Category 2 hurricane on September 16. It continued to strengthen, and by September 18, Debby briefly peaked as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. After reaching peak intensity, Debby slowly weakened and passed south of Newfoundland early on September 19. Thereafter, the system accelerated, moving eastward as swiftly as 60 mph (97 km/h) as it weakened to a tropical storm the next day. Debby became extratropical cyclone well west of the British Isles later on September 20, while the remnants were quickly absorbed into a larger storm system.
The Hurricane Research Division (HRD) is a section of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in Miami, Florida, and is the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) focus for tropical cyclone research. The thirty member division is not a part of the National Hurricane Center but cooperates closely with them in carrying out its annual field program and in transitioning research results into operational tools for hurricane forecasters. HRD was formed from the National Hurricane Research Laboratory in 1984, when it was transferred to AOML and unified with the oceanographic laboratories.
The Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model is a specialized version of the weather research and forecasting model and is used to forecast the track and intensity of tropical cyclones. The model was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Rhode Island, and Florida State University. It became operational in 2007.
The 920th Rescue Wing is part of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) of the United States Air Force. The wing is assigned to the Tenth Air Force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC).
The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems.
Stanley B. Goldenberg is a meteorologist with NOAA/AOML's Hurricane Research Division in Miami, Florida.
Weather reconnaissance is the acquisition of weather data used for research and planning. Typically the term reconnaissance refers to observing weather from the air, as opposed to the ground.
The Hurricane Rainband and Intensity Change Experiment (RAINEX) is a project to improve hurricane intensity forecasting via measuring interactions between rainbands and the eyewalls of tropical cyclones. The experiment was planned for the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. This coincidence of RAINEX with the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season led to the study and exploration of infamous hurricanes Katrina, Ophelia, and Rita. Where Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita would go on to cause major damage to the US Gulf coast, Hurricane Ophelia provided an interesting contrast to these powerful cyclones as it never developed greater than a Category 1.
Michael J. Silah is a retired rear admiral in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps who served as Director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, and Director, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.