
NOAA deployed one of its two Lockheed WP-3D Orion "hurricane hunter" aircraft (N42RF) to Shannon, Ireland, on Jan. 16 to measure ocean-surface winds in winter storms over the North Atlantic. The flights are part of an ongoing NOAA Satellite and Information Service project to calibrate and validate data collected by weather satellite sensors and to test new remote sensing technologies.
The project, known as “Ocean Winds,” helps scientists and engineers improve the quality and consistency of satellite-based weather data used in forecasting and modeling. This is the fourth year NOAA has conducted this project from Ireland.
“Ireland gives us a nice vantage point to reach some of the strongest winter storms over the North Atlantic,” said Dr. Paul Chang, NOAA Global Change Observation Mission Project Scientist and Ocean Winds Science Team Lead for the NOAA Satellite and Information Service. “We have also operated out of Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John's, Newfoundland in the past. These places also give us a good vantage point. The advantage of Ireland is that the storms are generally coming toward us versus us having to chase them, and the warmer airport conditions are easier for the P-3 support.”
The aircraft is based at the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida.
Photo: Ireland as seen from a NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft. Credit: NOAA