Why physicists are air-dropping buoys into the paths of hurricanes
Hurricane Francine formed in the Gulf of Mexico in September 2024
NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)
On 10 September, a US Navy P-3 Orion aircraft chased down Hurricane Francine, then building strength in the Gulf of Mexico. As the plane flew low over the water, helmeted crewmembers known as “warlocks” heaved more than a dozen scientific buoys out of an open door. This was the latest mission in a program to improve hurricane forecasts by collecting real-time data at the tumultuous interface of…
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