November 8, 2004 During the past hurricane season, there were two deployments
of the ARL "Best Available Turbulence" (BAT) probe on the NOAA P3 N43RF,
to obtain measurements of winds and turbulence in the hurricane boundary
layer. In early September, N43RF was deployed to Barbados to fly through
Hurricane Frances as the storm passed north of St. Croix on its westward
track. Several passes were made through the periphery of the storm,
at 1500 ft above the surface. Data collected on these passes will be
used to characterize the transfer of energy through the top of the
boundary layer. For Hurricane Jeanne, N43RF deployed out of MacDill
AFB and made several low-level runs. Unfortunately the structure of
Jeanne did not allow for repeated flux runs at low levels, so data
collected in this storm are marginal at best. These two deployments
underscore the necessity for a long-range plan to attain a series of
measurements in hurricanes over a number of years. Despite the setbacks
related to storm structure and flight patterns, the instrumentation
performed well. Contact information: Bruce B. Hicks |