NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

Models estimate potential shifts in thermal habitats for key fisheries

Chris Malanuk — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:57:47 +0000

The U.S. east coast has already seen shifts in the distribution of major fisheries, influencing catch limits and complications with permitting across states. As black sea bass, summer flounder and scup populations have shifted away from their habitat in the southeast, they have moved to northern regions where fisheries may have lower catch limits and […]

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Satellite data reveals Gulf Stream intensification

AOML Communications — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:05:55 +0000

The Gulf Stream plays a key role in shaping weather and climate patterns in regions surrounding the North Atlantic. A new NOAA study reveals the Gulf Stream underwent a rapid intensification from 2014 to 2023. Fast current speed can lead to enhanced heat transport to higher latitudes, warming the upper ocean and increasing heat released to the atmosphere.

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S0 drone demonstrates new dual-altitude capability in Hurricane Lala

AOML Communications — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:52:36 +0000

For the first time during an operational hurricane mission, NOAA and Black Swift Technologies demonstrated simultaneous dual-altitude drone flight capability, the latest advancement in the use of small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS) to collect critical atmospheric data in severe storms. The novel feat, coined Mobile Ocean Towers, enables scientists to fly two Black Swift S0 sUAS […]

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Advancing extreme weather forecast models through international collaborations

AOML Communications — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:20:27 +0000

NOAA–India Partnership Advances Next-Generation Coupled Forecasting System for the Indian Ocean Region A long-standing collaboration between NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has reached a major new milestone with advancements in the Interactive/Indian Ocean–Land–Atmosphere (IOLA) forecasting system. Scientists from NOAA/AOML, the Indian National Center for Ocean Information […]

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AOML’s 2026 intern cohort gains first-hand research experience

AOML Communications — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:55:47 +0000

In celebration of National Intern Day, NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is proud to recognize its FY-2026 class of interns. Ranging from high school to graduate students, these talented individuals are gaining hands-on experience across a wide array of research areas—including coral reefs, microbial ecology, hurricanes, ocean acidification, physical oceanography, science communication, and […]

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To align or not align: decades of Hurricane Hunter radar data yield insights on rapid intensification

AOML Communications — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:34:29 +0000

Leveraging 27 years of radar scans from Hurricane Hunter aircraft, NOAA and partners reveal new insights into one of the most elusive phases of the tropical cyclone lifecycle – vertical alignment of the vortex, a critical precursor to rapid intensification. This study is the first to use decades of radar observations to identify the storm […]

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Scientists at AOML push boundaries to investigate coral resilience of mesophotic reefs

Chris Malanuk — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:11:10 +0000

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) consists of 160 miles of dispersed banks with underwater mountains, ridges, and troughs over 80 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, and it hosts the highest recorded coral cover of any reef within the greater U.S. Atlantic region. While the relatively shallow coral reef caps of […]

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Adopt a Drifter Program grows this summer

AOML Communications — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:55:55 +0000

More than 20 years after the first teacher adopted a drifter, NOAA’s Adopt a Drifter Program , co-led by the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program (GOMO) and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), continues to grow and evolve this summer.

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New study directly quantifies air-sea momentum exchange in hurricane force winds for the first time

AOML Communications — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:22:09 +0000

In recent years, uncrewed surface vehicles (USV) have become vital tools used to collect observations to improve hurricane forecasts. To fully understand how storms intensify, scientists need data at the air-sea interface where energy is transferred from the ocean to tropical cyclones. This data is most effectively collected by USVs because of their unique ability to operate in dangerous environments and extreme conditions. In a new study, scientists are able to directly quantify the air-sea momentum exchange (termed ‘wind stress’) and related frictional drag effect that acts to slow a hurricane’s rotating winds. These direct measurements of this process are the first to be collected over the ocean in hurricane-force winds.

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Traversing the South Atlantic to assess long-term changes across an entire ocean basin

Chris Malanuk — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:59:46 +0000

In early May, the 273-foot research vessel Roger Revelle docked in Cabo Verde with an international team of scientists after 53 days at sea, crossing the open Atlantic along a cruise path known as A16S. With scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) […]

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