ARTICLE

How NOAA is Using Robotics to Gather Hurricane Data in Real-time

September 12, 2022 – Amaziah George

Saildrone Inc., a California-based company, launched five uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) from the U.S. Virgin Islands in the summer of 2021. The sails operate autonomously and get their designs to navigate dangerous Atlantic tropical cyclones. In 2019, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, awarded a three-year grant to Saildrone, the University of New Hampshire, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute to develop ocean exploration applications for crewless wind-powered vehicles.

This summer, NOAA announced it launched several drones to gather data about the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Two drones would also be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico to intercept hurricanes for the first time.

The USVs operate on solar power and travel about one to two (1-2) mph. Saildrone launched one drone off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, and the others from St. Croix, according to Greg Foltz, a scientist at NOAA. St. Croix is the largest island in the USVI and the furthest south, giving it unique access to portions of the Caribbean Sea. Foltz added that the USVs could travel up to 150 kilometers per day–so fifty miles at least per day. The company chose St. Croix as a launch location because historical data shows powerful tropical cyclones tend to track nearby.

SD 1045 Near the Eye of Hurricane Sam and the Saildrone Mission Portal

Over eight years, Saildrone has deployed over 100 sailboat-like drones to gather ocean and weather data. The USVs transmit real meteorological and oceanographic data from the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Data collected include air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, water temperature and salinity, sea surface temperature, and wave height.

Some of their tested prototypes come equipped with ruggedized “hurricane wings” that withstand winds over 70 mph and waves over 10 feet. Their technology can also map the ocean floor using sonar and estimate regional fish stock populations in the Pacific Ocean.

Saildrone said it developed USVs with small wings to limit wind shear in storms. These smaller crafts can withstand 100 mph winds and turbulent waters. Researchers used one to capture footage near the northern eyewall of Hurricane Sam, a category four cyclone. Sam was an intense Cape Verde hurricane that formed in late September and lasted through early October. “In the case of Sam, we saw more than a week ahead of time that it was likely to come to the western Atlantic,” Foltz said. “So we moved one of our USVs in position, and fortunately, we were there when it came through.”

Researchers used multibeam sonar on the Saildrone Surveyor, a new 72-foot, autonomous surface vehicle deployed in Spring 2020. Missions like this collected detailed seafloor mapping data and offered real-time insight into the water column.

The Saildrone Surveyor will also be equipped with a complete suite of environmental sensors to support studies looking at harmful algal blooms, microbial ecology, water quality, and environmental DNA (eDNA) indicative of invasive species and larger animals.

Saildrone’s collaborators on this mission are NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). First, scientists plan to station USVs in areas of the Atlantic Ocean that have historically seen a high density of storms. Then, PMEL and AOML scientists will pilot the vehicles into hurricanes for testing and sampling. The mission creates a new foundation for PMEL and AOML to deploy a more expansive fleet of underwater drones to study tropical cyclones better and gather data scientists didn’t have access to in the past.

Christian Meinig, the director of engineering development at PMEL, explained that the project would primarily explore testing with the hope of making the deployment an annual event during the Atlantic Hurricane season. Each USV has a range of more than 16,000 nautical miles and can collect data for up to 12 months. The operation, very similar to the sampling that research ships perform, can be done at a fraction of the cost, according to PMEL scientists. In addition, the revolutionary technology developed with the federal government’s support saves energy and money and doesn’t endanger humans.

The collaborative team of scientists is excited at the prospect of understanding more about heat exchange within hurricanes since the probes can gather readings in places that ships can’t. “For the last seven or eight years, we’ve been using USVs to collect ocean data and help inform our science on things like climate change, meteorology, and oceanography,” said Brian Connon, Saildrone’s vice president.

While buoys collect data, USVs deploy additional instruments to study storms and are mobile compared to buoys anchored in place. “Using data collected by USVs, we expect to improve forecast models that predict rapid intensification of hurricanes,” Foltz added. “Rapid intensification, when hurricane winds strengthen in a matter of hours, is a serious threat to coastal communities. New data from USVs and other uncrewed systems that NOAA is using will help us better predict the forces that drive hurricanes and be able to warn communities earlier.”

Several of the company’s crewless vessels patrol the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, collecting valuable data on how hurricanes form and strengthen. The data will also be sent to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and disseminated to all major forecast centers. At least twenty agencies worldwide, including NOAA, will have access to expanded hurricane data. “Mapping the seafloor is very important for storm surge,” Jenkins said. “There are large parts of the Florida shelf just completely unmapped where storm surge is happening. We’re hoping to get a whole fleet of USVs out to the shore to start mapping and to help people prepare.”

Saildrone expects to enhance its findings by comparing what it learned with data from underwater gliders that dive below the surface to measure how deep a layer of warm water extends. In addition, hurricane hunters flying into the cyclones using aircraft equipped with sensitive instruments can use Saildrone’s data to more accurately predict how a storm will strengthen or weaken over time. The data will also be valuable to other groups, including the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). NWS will also use the USV data to improve forecasting.