Global Hawk – for Hurricane Forecasting Missions
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The unmanned aircraft Global Hawk flew above hurricanes and transmitted important information and forecasts. This was achieved through a unique collaboration including Cherokee Nation Technologies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA that had been established to support hurricane forecasting and damage assessment within the framework of the Sensing Hazards with Operational Unmanned Technology Team (SHOUT) program.
When flying above the hurricanes, the unmanned aircraft deploy sondes, probes that automatically transmit information about surroundings. Forecasters use data collected by the high-flying unmanned aircraft to assist in predicting the intensity and path of current and future hurricanes.
Cherokee Nation Technologies provides the services in science, technology and operations, including program management, systems engineering, data management, testing and evaluation.
The missions provide forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami with real-time, vertical meteorological observations, which are being used to get better forecasts on pending hazardous weather events and to increase the continuity of satellite data, govtech.com reports, citing JC Coffey from Cherokee Nation Technologies.
He added that the unmanned aircraft teams work closely with the manned C-130 Hurricane Hunters aircrews that fly into both Atlantic and Pacific storms to gather weather data.
The Global Hawk’s capability to scan large areas of the ocean has also proven to be beneficial as an observing platform for environmental assessment and forecasting.
A smaller unmanned aircraft system also recently used aerial imagery to access post-storm damage in Georgia after Hermine passed through the area. The images were immediately provided to the local Emergency Management Agency and National Weather Service.
Last summer, the Global Hawk flew over Tropical Storm Erika, resulting in the first time its real-time weather data was implemented into hurricane models around the world to assist in forecasting a tropical storm.
