ORF Financing

What this funds

The NOAA fleet also includes one Gulfstream IV-SP (G-IV) jet. One of NOAA's heavy aircraft, the G-IV is a high-altitude, high-speed platform used for hurricane forecasting and research. The G-IV flies above and around developing tropical cyclones to provide a detailed image of the upper atmosphere surrounding a storm system. GPS-enabled dropsondes, tube-like instruments that measure pressure, humidity, temperature, wind direction and speed, are deployed from the G-IVs and data are transmitted to the NOAA National Center for Environmental Prediction and National Hurricane Center for inclusion in hurricane models. Additionally, the aircraft is equipped with a very unique vertically scanning Tail Doppler Radar (TDR) that can provide a 3D cross section of the storm structure and associated wind speeds. With the TDR and dropsondes data, the storm track and intensity forecast accuracy can improve by as much as 24 percent. Outside of hurricane season, which lasts from June through the end of November, the G-IV supports the monitoring of atmospheric rivers, a weather phenomenon that can bring catastrophic flooding and landslides to the U.S. West Coast. The atmospheric river missions aid in collecting vital information that improve forecast accuracy and helps communities prepare for and respond to significant weather events. The G-IV, acquired by NOAA in 1996, is approaching the end of its service life. It will be replaced by two highly modified Gulfstream G550 aircraft. The G550s will possess several improved capabilities including enhanced microwave sounding, humidity, and wind measurements, which could improve the hurricane model forecasts that rely on these data. NOAA's two Lockheed WP-3D Orion (WP-3D) "Hurricane Hunters" are two of NOAA's heavy aircraft that specialize in hurricane reconnaissance and research but are also utilized to carry out atmospheric and air chemistry missions. Unlike the G-IV, the P-3s fly directly into the eye of a hurricane at a low altitude (8,000 - 10,000ft), taking critical measurements of inside the storm. The highly trained crew aboard the P-3s, which include NOAA Corps pilots and civilian crewmembers, deploy GPS dropsondes to capture measurements of pressure, humidity, temperature, and wind direction and speed, painting a detailed picture of the storm structure and intensity. NOAA has recently made significant progress with the use of air-launched uncrewed systems from the P-3 into the storms to provide additional information to the users of the data. Outfitted with tail Doppler and lower fuselage radar, the P-3s scan tropical storms both vertically and horizontally providing a comprehensive three-dimensional view of internal storm conditions for users such as those at the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, the Environmental Modeling Center, and the National Hurricane Center. The information collected by these systems allow forecasters and researchers to see the internal structure of the storm in near real-time, helping to bolster forecasts and improve storm track accuracy, ultimately saving lives and property. When not supporting the hurricane season, the WP-3D Orion's can be reconfigured to support missions such as satellite calibration/validation, air chemistry, coastal mapping/emergency response, tornado research, and many more.

Extracted from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, p. 54. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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