Scientists hope images from the research drones will improve our understanding of tornadoes and lead to better forecasts.
In clear skies over Maryland the week of January 11, NOAA scientists launched a research drone from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter plane to test its ability to gather weather data that could improve hurricane forecasts.
World View Enterprises has offered to carry a miniaturized NOAA instrument on its high-altitude balloon to capture measurements of atmospheric particles on a series of flights in 2021 that will last weeks and cover thousands of miles at altitudes above 55,000 feet.
An expedition to the central Arctic will give scientists the first opportunity to study the dramatic changes sweeping across the top of the world for an entire year.
As the Yalobusha River rose around Greenwood, Mississippi, during a major rainstorm in late February, scientists from the Northern Gulf Institute at Mississippi State University deployed a small unmanned plane that took high-resolution images of rising waters and beamed them back in real time to NOAA weather forecasters.
New NOAA research demonstrates that drones and weather balloons can gather data needed to improve weather forecasts in severe working environments.