All three NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft were airborne at the same time today, in and around Hurricane Lorenzo. The G-IV flew a successful HRD research mission in support of the NESDIS Satellite Validation experiment, flying around Lorenzo in a star pattern that sampled the environmental interaction and aligning the pattern with an NOAA-20 overpass to permit a dropsonde-satellite retrieval comparison. They landed back in Barbados around 1530 AST/EDT. The NOAA43 P3 flew a NESDIS Ocean Winds experiment within the inner core of Lorenzo, collecting valuable data that will allow us to validate the SFMR in high winds, while obtaining the first science data of the season for the Wide Swath Radar Altimeter and UMASS SFMR. This was the first hurricane flown by NOAA43 since Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Finally, NOAA42 assisted in the search-and-rescue operations for the vessel Bourbon Rhode southeast of Lorenzo. Both P3s landed back in Barbados around 1900-1930 AST/EDT.
All three aircraft will again be in the air tomorrow in and around Hurricane Lorenzo. NOAA49 will conduct an HRD research-tasked mission around Lorenzo for NESDIS Satellite Validation and Diurnal Cycle Experiment, takeoff 0800 AST/EDT (1200 UTC) from Barbados. The two P3s will conduct NESDIS/HRD research missions for Mature Stage research objectives, SFMR Validation, and NESDIS Ocean Winds. NOAA42 will takeoff at 1030 AST/EDT (1430 UTC), and NOAA43 will follow a half hour later. The proposed G-IV flight track is shown below.
The three aircraft are scheduled to ferry back to Lakeland Sunday.
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DISCLAIMER: The above discussion is intended to provide a brief summary of recent and future HRD Hurricane Field Program Operations. Any use of this material beyond its original intent is prohibited without permission of the HRD Director. Media inquiries should be directed to Erica Rule (305-361-4541) or Erica.Rule@noaa.gov, Monica Allen (301-734-1123) or Monica.Allen@noaa.gov.