![]() ![]() ![]() Zhang is part of a larger group testing many different uncrewed aircraft systems, including Saildrones, to collect data from hurricanes, an effort led by NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic Meteorological Laboratory (AOML).īut Zhang is intrigued to see what the Altius can tell him about how hurricanes strengthen. I was worried it might not work but this was pretty successful and hopefully, it can help us to improve hurricane forecasts in real time.” “It flew along the eyewall for a long time, so that was quite an achievement. “The Altius was able to measure around 216 miles per hour winds at an altitude of 2,150 feet, which is a record for a small uncrewed aircraft deployed in a hurricane,” said Zhang, who deployed the 27-pound drone as the lead investigator on a research study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Weather Program Office. It flew around inside Ian’s powerful Category 4 core for close to two hours, which allowed Zhang and his collaborators to collect new data that may help them unravel the rapid intensification process of major hurricanes. The small, but hearty Area-I Altius 600, was released from a WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft on Wednesday, Sept. It was the first time that Zhang, a hurricane scientist at the University of Miami Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), was able to deploy a state-of-the-art drone that flew into the massive storm’s eyewall. Meteorologist Jun Zhang will not forget the extreme turbulence he experienced- and millions watched-aboard a hurricane hunter plane recently.īut he will likely remember the flight into Hurricane Ian for a different reason. ![]()
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