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Courtesy of NASA
Hurricane Season Has Begun
News story originally written on August 24, 2001
Hurricane season is here! You may have heard of Tropical Storms Allison, Barry and Chantal. They were storms in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. They didn't do much damage to life or property, but more storms are likely to come!This year, NASA will be meeting hurricane season head-on with a program called CAMEX (Convection And Moisture EXperiment). CAMEX will run August 16-September 24, 2001, during the height of hurricane season. During this CAMEX investigation, NASA will use aircraft (NASA planes ER-2 and DC-8), unpiloted aerial vehicles, satellite observations, and ground-based radar to collect data that will improve hurricane forecasting. By using all of these different types of vehicles and ground-based instruments, CAMEX will be looking at each storm from sea level to about 65,000 feet all at the same time!
Robbie Hood, CAMEX mission scientist said, "During the last CAMEX mission in 1998, we flew over hurricanes and collected a vast amount of data, sampling the hurricanes' upper regions at altitudes of 35,000 feet (10,600 meters) or higher. This year, we're asking ourselves additional questions, such as, 'How does a hurricane intensify?' and 'What is its rainfall potential after it comes to shore?' The highest number of hurricane-related deaths are due to inland flooding, so inland rainfall is something we will be monitoring very closely."
During this CAMEX study, planes will be darting in and out of hurricanes while satellites from above and radars from below look on...NASA is really hoping that after CAMEX is finished, they will be able to have better warnings for the people around the world affected by hurricanes. Although the primary purpose of this CAMEX investigation is to study hurricanes, the study will also look at thunderstorms and other types of precipitation.
