After two successful research missions on Saturday and Sunday, the crew of the NOAA P-3, which includes AOML/HRD scientists, are on their way inbound to Hurricane Florence to accomplish objectives related to the Hurricane Field Program – Intensity Forecast Experiment’s, “Mature Stage Experiment.” The goal is to collect observations from the Tail Doppler radar, dropsondes, Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometers (SFMR), and the NOAA/NESDIS Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (IWRAP). Hurricane Florence has been experiencing rapid intensification (RI), and the data collected on these missions will be used to allow us to better understand the processes responsible for RI events and to help forecasters better predict their occurrence. We’ll also be sending data off the aircraft in real time to the National Hurricane Center to provide them critical information on the state of the storm, as well as to the NOAA/NCEP/Environmental Modeling Center for assimilation of the P-3 data into the forecast models.
NOAA P-3 flight track for today’s mission
