The NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations deployed its Gulfstream IV-SP research jet to Hawaii in December to gather data on atmospheric rivers to help forecasters and water managers on the West Coast. The data collected by the aircraft is crucial to giving forecasters, water managers, and the public up to five days advance notice of the precipitation headed their way, and helps protect lives and property. NOAA is making an investment to increase the agency's support of this mission with the planned acquisition of two new Gulfstream G550 research aircraft, and additional acquisition of C-130 aircraft as outlined in NOAA's Aircraft Plan. Having these two aircraft to replace the Gulfstream IV and C-130s to replace NOAA's WP-3Ds will enable NOAA to support a full season of data collection, critical to supporting accurate forecasts and further research to understand atmospheric rivers. Learn more about atmospheric rivers and how NOAA study's them in this article contributed by NOAA Research.