Hurricane Helene: Breaking records in hurricane data collection

Hurricane Helene over the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: NOAA

As Hurricane Helene developed in the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA researchers gathered critical data from the sea and sky to better understand tropical cyclones and support the National Hurricane Center forecasters. This real time data gives meteorologists a clearer picture of the storm environment and structure, reducing forecast uncertainty.

Researchers from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and University of Miami Cooperative Institute of Marine & Atmospheric Studies supported a series of NOAA Hurricane Hunter missions on September 25-26, 2024. In addition to operational radar and dropsonde data, scientists are experimenting with emerging technologies like the Black Swift S0 drone, a small uncrewed aircraft system (sUAS), which gathers atmospheric data from the storm’s lowest levels, which were not previously accessible.