Hurricane Earl Promises New Data On Storms

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Haymsfield says it's the first time this kind of aircraft has been flown into a hurricane. Global Hawks are usually used by the military for surveillance, and ordinarily those controlling the aircraft try to avoid bad weather. "We're still really testing the instruments and learning to use the plane," he said.

One treat for the scientists was that the plane was in the hurricane as it went to a category 3 storm from a category 4. One of the big questions about hurricanes is what happens when they intensify or weaken. Understanding that would enable better forecasts.

The unmanned plane also got a good look at the eye of the hurricane. The eye is warmer than the rest of the storm, usually by about 10 degrees, Haymsfield says. Knowing the exact temperature can often indicate whether the storm will intensify.

NASA also flies a DC-8 airliner into the storm. Scott Braun, research scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, says the flight is actually smoother than it sounds. "It's the wind shear at lower altitudes that makes turbulence," he said. The flying science laboratory has a new laser detection instrument on it that allows the team on board to get a three-dimensional picture of Earl's winds by looking at the particles in the air as they get blown around.

Orbital eyes are also watching Earl. The Geostationary Environment Operational Satellite is parked in an orbit that keeps it above the U.S., where it can stay focused on the western Atlantic. Most of the pictures people see on television are from that satellite, notes Andre Dress, deputy project manager.

But there are other images that are just as important, though they get less attention. The GOES satellites also measure the temperature of the sea surface and clouds, which helps predict the track the storm will take. The ability to "stare" at one point on the Earth's surface means the cameras can take pictures with resolutions of about a half mile, and the camera can take them fast enough to provide a kind of motion picture of the hurricane's behavior.

"There's no satellite other than GOES that can home in and understand where storms are going," Dress said.

Braun says the data from Earl will take a long time to analyze, but it promises a lot of new findings. "We're really excited about this," he said.