Judge restricts NOAA hurricane hunter jet
There is little worth mentioning in the tropics today. The tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico has moved ashore into Texas. A strong tropical wave is approaching the Lesser Antilles Islands, but is under 30 knots of westerly wind shear that will prohibit development. A large area of cloudiness off the east coast of Florida is also under high wind shear. Tropical storm development in the Atlantic is unlikely for at least the next two days.
Judge restricts NOAA hurricane hunter jet
A federal labor judge ruled Friday that the high-altitude NOAA Gulfstream jet cannot fly into the core region of hurricanes any more. The judge ruled in favor of the NOAA's labor union, which argued that flying the jet into the core of a hurricane, even at high altitude where turbulence is generally light, posed an unacceptable risk to the crew.
Figure 1.The NOAA Aircraft Operations Center's Gulfstream IV jet, nicknamed "Gonzo" after the Muppets character, operates out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Image credit: NOAA.
The NOAA jet generally files at altitudes of 43,000 feet around the periphery of hurricanes, dropping dozens of dropsonde probes that fall on parachutes through the storm that radio back information on temperature, winds, pressure, and humidity. These measurements have been shown to improve track forecasts of hurricanes by as much as 25%, and are crucial to the Hurricane Center's operational forecasts. Generally, the NOAA jet avoids the central core area of a hurricane, where the potential for dangerous turbulence is highest. However, in 2003 the NOAA jet flew into the eye of Hurricane Fabian near Bermuda, by entering through a large gap in the eyewall. Flights into the core regions of Tropical Storm Emily and Franklin in 2005 were also performed, although in all these cases the aircraft was careful to avoid penetrating thunderstorms, and just flew through the high cirrus clouds of the Central Dense Overcast (CDO). Nevertheless, the union argued that such flights were too dangerous, and collected little valuable data.
The Gulf Stream IV jet is a much different king of aircraft than the low-altitude P-3 and C-130 hurricane hunter aircraft, which can shrug off the moderate turbulence one typically finds in hurricane clouds. Moderate turbulence poses a much higher risk to the Gulfstream IV jet, because is flies so much faster. Flying through CDO in the core region of a hurricane presents an increased risk of moderate turbulence, due to the presence of strong wave-like features that propagate through this region. I question whether this increased risk is worthy of causing a ban on all flights into the core region of a hurricane, because in nearly all cases this can be safely accomplished if the crew and pilot exercise good judgment. However, as a member of a crew that once exercised bad judgment in deciding to penetrate Hurricane Hugo's eyewall, I can certainly sympathize with the union's case.
While the new ruling will not significantly affect the Gulfstream IV jet's current ability to provide improved data in support of better hurricane forecasts, it may substantially affect its future role. An airborne Doppler radar system was due to be installed on the NOAA jet by 2009. Data from this radar would be of most value if the jet could fly into the inner core region of hurricanes. With the jet now restricted from going to where the radar data would be of most value, the plans for the new radar may have to be scrapped. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since the heavy new radar would substantially reduce the the flight altitude of the jet. This would significantly decrease the value of the dropsonde data, since the probes would not be able to sample the upper reaches of the storm any more. In the end, the union's victory may turn out to be a positive for all concerned.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 — Blog Index
That is the ultimate questioned and one to which we have no answer. When i'm here I talk about hurricanes and their relation to climate because hurricanes are what I've studied and will continue to study. but as mentioned last night, the deeper question is "are we somehow affecting the enviroment in a way that will push us over the edge". Fears such as increasing acidity of the ocean etc are much larger threats. OTOH we are over halfway through the usuage of Fossil fuels so its logical to assume that our climate has changed more than half of what the extra CO2 can do. For example if there is a .6 increase we're looking at a max of 1.0 total change. Of course this come from my faith that people will switch(and the $70 oil helps) to other fuels over time.
TX
The possible tipping point generating the most concern right now is that the presence of the arctic sea ice currently helps drive the world's ocean currents (including the Gulf Stream), and that once the arctic year-round sea ice is gone (which is projected to happen in as little as 15 years from now) the ocean currents could develop new flow patterns with very significant implications for planetary climate (and lots of negative impacts for humanity)..
I ran across something in the paper this morning and thought you guys would like to see......here it is...
High sea temperatures stress coral reefs
Posted July 4, 2006
ADVERTISEMENTS
Caribbean sea temperatures have reached their annual high two months ahead of schedule -- a sign that coral reefs, including those in the Florida Keys, may suffer the same widespread damage as last year, scientists said Monday.
Sea temperatures around Puerto Rico and the Florida Keys reached 83.48 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday -- a high not normally expected until September, said Al Strong, a scientist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch.
High sea temperatures stress coral, making the already fragile undersea life even more susceptible to disease and premature death. NOAA issued a warning, alerting scuba-dive operators and underwater researchers to be careful around the reefs, which are easily damaged by physical contact and land-based runoff, Strong said.
Just for a short primer, people should read about the Permian-Triassic extinction event, and consider the theory of atmospheric hydrogen sulfide buildup that may have occurred at that time. Granted this was an extreme event, but it is instructive. Check out some of the external links at the bottom of the article as well. Similar changes in ocean chemistry have been shown to occur at other times in the past, usually resulting in massive extinctions. The ocean is the key to life on this planet; we can no longer afford to view it as a limitless resource of food and the ultimate dumping ground for all of our pollution and waste.
Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Reverend Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton.
Viewing: 451 - 464
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 — Blog Index