The first-ever ocean drone intercepted a major hurricane, all while recording video of 50-foot waves and winds gusting over 120 mph.
In July, we showed you pictures of two Saildrones leaving Jacksonville for a three-month Atlantic journey to intercept hurricanes.
On Wednesday, the wind and solar-powered, surfboard-shaped vehicle sailed into the strongest part of Hurricane Sam to collect storm data above and below the sea surface.
Saildrone has achieved what no other vessel has ever accomplished. It gathered weather data at the ocean surface in the hurricane’s most difficult area to survey.
Data from this ocean boundary area is the missing link in helping meteorologists predict when a storm will intensify.
This technology helps validate what hurricane reconnaissance planes measure above the storm and have the advantage of gathering data around the clock to help understand the physical processes of hurricanes.
This knowledge is critical to improving storm forecasting and is expected to reduce loss of human life by allowing better preparedness in coastal communities.
“Saildrone is going where no research vessel has ever ventured, sailing right into the eye of the hurricane, gathering data that will transform our understanding of these powerful storms,” said Richard Jenkins, Saildrone founder and CEO. “After conquering the Arctic and the Southern Ocean, hurricanes were the last frontier for Saildrone survivability. We are proud to have engineered a vehicle capable of operating in the most extreme weather conditions on earth.”
The Saildrones provide data directly to NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Saildrone’s partners in this mission.
“Using data collected by Saildrones, we expect to improve forecast models that predict rapid intensification of hurricanes,” said NOAA scientist Greg Foltz. “Rapid intensification, when hurricane winds strengthen in a matter of hours, is a serious threat to coastal communities. New data from Saildrones and other uncrewed systems that NOAA is using will help us better predict the forces that drive hurricanes and be able to warn communities earlier.”