Who could have thought we would one day see the inside of a hurricane? But the collaboration between U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Saildrone has made it possible by sending marine robots into the heart of churning cyclones. A clip on NOAA Research’s official Twitter handle showed the 23-foot-long drone withstanding over 100 mph winds. Footage released on Thursday captured 50-feet high waves from the Category 4 Hurricane Fiona.
The caption read, “Take a look at Category 4 #HurricaneFiona from a @saildrone point of view! Watch the #saildrone battle 50 ft waves & over 100 mph winds as it collects critical #ocean #data that will help #scientists better understand the physical processes of #hurricanes @NOAA @NOAA_AOML”
Take a look at Category 4 #HurricaneFiona from a @saildrone point of view! 🌀Watch the #saildrone battle 50 ft waves & over 100 mph winds as it collects critical #ocean #data that will help #scientists better understand the physical processes of #hurricanes@NOAA @NOAA_AOML pic.twitter.com/yZhSFvHREU
— NOAA Research (@NOAAResearch) September 23, 2022
The drone is designed to withstand the storm and gather all the data from the inside, including from the storm’s eyewall. The scientists aim to understand the workings of hurricanes and how they develop into storms and cause flooding.
NOAA Oceanographer, Gregory Foltz, told Mashable last year, “We want to go straight through — we want to go through the eyewall.”
Knowing what conditions cause stronger storms, communities that are in its path can benefit from the information. Especially since climate changes have caused storms to grow more powerful. The rising ocean temperatures have caused an increase in the frequency of Atlantic storms since 1979.
Hurricane Fiona was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday. As it hit Canada’s Atlantic Coast, hundreds of thousands of people are now left without power and some homeless.
Earlier in the week, Fiona had left 70% of Bermuda without power. The winds were as strong as 103 mph. The devastation it caused was reminiscent of Hurricane Maria in 2017. It took nearly 3,000 lives and destroyed people’s livelihoods.
Tracing back its path, Hurricane Fiona has left parts of Puerto Rico underwater. Some areas received over 30 inches of rainfall, and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Over 900K people are without power and almost as much left without water.
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