Earth  ID: 11075

Extreme Turbulence

Story by Patrick Lynch Released on September 4, 2012
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NASA scientists venture into the eye of a hurricane.
Why do some storms intensify into powerful hurricanes? In search of the answer NASA scientists took to the skies in 2010 aboard a flying laboratory that crisscrossed the path of Hurricane Earl as it approached the East Coast of the United States. By deploying canister-shaped sensors within the storm, researchers collected valuable data that will help them understand how such storms form and develop. But they weren't working alone: Soaring at an altitude of 60,000 feet, NASA's unmanned Global Hawk aircraft cruised over the Category 4 hurricane while astronauts on the International Space Station captured dramatic photos of its massive cloud tops from above. Wonder what it's like to fly through a hurricane? Watch the video to get a window seat view from the scientists' plane as it jetted into the eye of the storm.
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Experience the wing-rattling intensity of flying through the storm's eyewall and into the calm eye.
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Making its first flight over a hurricane, NASA's Global Hawk aircraft ushers in a new era of storm science.
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Hurricane Earl as seen from the International Space Station.
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NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Hurricane Earl as the storm approached the Bahamas.
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Radar data from NASA's TRMM satellite shows rainfall off the coast of the United States.
 

Related Story

Hurricane Earl B-roll

For More Information

NASA.gov

Story Credits

Producer:
Brooke Harris (USRA)

Videographer:
Jane Peterson (University of North Dakota)

Lead Writer:
Patrick Lynch (Wyle Information Systems)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Global Hawk photo courtesy of NASA/NOAA
TRMM image courtesy of NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
ISS photos courtesy of NASA, Douglas Wheelock
Aqua image courtesy of NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11075

Keywords:
NASA Science >> Earth
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