Why Can't We Stop Hurricanes?
One of the most commonly asked questions is why we don't try to stop
hurricanes from forming or to disrupt them once they do form. It doesn't
sound too hard, does it? Well, so far researchers have found it's impossible
to do. The federal government, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) tried various inventions to weaken hurricanes, but
gave up in the 1960s. The weather systems that make up hurricanes are
too large to affect. Now NOAA researchers focus on trying to better understand
how hurricanes form and move.
In 1955, Congress funded the National Hurricane Research Project to conduct
research into these dangerous storm systems. In 1960, researchers acquired
two DC6 airplanes to use just for hurricane research. Improved computers
and the regular flights of the "Hurricane Hunter" planes helped
meteorologists (scientists who study weather) to learn more and more about
hurricanes. Over time, the forecasts and project "track" of
hurricanes has gotten more and more accurate.
Some of the successes achieved by NOAA researchers include:
Studying the success of a Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, carried
aboard a Hurricane Hunter plane, to map a hurricane.
Designing satellite-based modems for transmitting information from the
Hurricane Hunter plans to computers on the ground to speed up the transfer
of the data.
Improving forecasting so that the future track of hurricanes is more
accurate - very important to knowing where a hurricane will hit and if
a particular community needs to evacuate.
Developing a "Global Positioning System Dropwindsonde" to take
measurements in the inner core of hurricanes to improve analysis and forecasts.
Information courtesy of the Hurricane Research Division of the Atlantic
Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory/NOAA
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