Since 1956, the Hurricane Research Division has carried out an annual field program in which data on Atlantic hurricanes is collected from a variety of platforms, primarily NOAA aircraft. Since the early 1970s plans for particular experiments were documented prior to the start of the season, to better allocate resources and personnel.
This year’s plan is now available online. A new feature to this year’s plan is to organize experiments by the phase in the life cycle the tropical feature is undergoing: Genesis, Early, Mature, or End Stage.
There are also a group of standard experiments that are carried out irrespective of phase of the system, such as Ocean Surveys which document ocean heat content, or the Synoptic Flow experiments which record the 3-D wind flow around the system.
The field program will run from July through October and will focus primarily on Atlantic systems.