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NOAA Hurricane Hunters

Slicing through the eyewall of a hurricane, buffeted by howling winds, blinding rain and violent updrafts and downdrafts before entering the relative calm of the storm’s eye, NOAA’s two Lockheed Martin WP-3D Orion four-engine turboprop aircraft, afectionately nicknamed "Kermit" (N42RF) and "Miss Piggy" (N43RF), probe every wind and pressure change, repeating the often grueling experience again and again during the course of an 8-10 hour mission.

NOAA’s Gulfstream IV-SP (G-IV) which can fly high, fast and far with a range of 4,000 nautical miles and a cruising altitude of 45,000 ft., paints a detailed picture of weather systems in the upper atmosphere surrounding developing hurricanes. The G-IV’s data also supplement the critical low altitude research data that are collected by NOAA’s P-3s.

The P-3s and G-IV are based at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. AOC is part of NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, which includes civilians as well as officers of the NOAA Corps, one of the nation’s seven uniformed services.

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Source URL: https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/locations/noaa-hurricane-hunters

Links:
[1] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/locations/noaa-hurricane-hunters
[2] mailto:[email protected]
[3] http://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/aircraft-operations/about/hurricane-hunters
[4] http://www.twitter.com/NOAA_HurrHunter