On my first blog I had mentioned that the scientists were on a mission to study hurricanes. Their goals were to be find an answer to some of the most fundamental yet still unanswered questions of hurricane science. Questions such as: What ultimately causes hurricanes to form? Why do some tropical depressions become strong hurricanes, while others fritter away? What causes the rapid strengthening often seen in hurricanes?
Even though that this year hurricanes were not as severe as they were predicated to be, the scientist still got a chance to study the once we did have.
The mission was to capture data on hurricanes as they formed and intensified. The DC-8, WB-57 and Global Hawk, got the chance to fly over hurricane Earl four times, criss-crossing the storm as it intensify from category one to a category four hurricane, until it got weakened. On the last day or the list fly over hurricane Earl, as the storm was breaking down and losing strength, the Global Hawk made its debut hurricane flight and passed over Earl's eye in concert with the DC-8, providing valuable comparison measurements for the instruments on-board both aircraft. Scientists were very pleased with the Global Hawk over the hurricane.
The GRIP planes were also able to fly to tropical systems such as Gaston that were forecast to strengthen and become hurricanes but in the end did not. In the search to understand why some tropical depressions become hurricanes and others don't, these were also important flights. Scientists, who had worked very hard during this research, will spend years to finally get all of the questions about hurricanes answered. The observations that were made will provide an insight with great value to meteorologists. This study will benefit from more accurate forecasts of storm strength and development.
In short, with this project the scientists have gathered enough information to fully understand hurricanes; but it will take them maybe years before they are fully done with the research and have all the questions answered and provide the society a better understanding about hurricanes and why they form.
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