Drones to gather new hurricane data

This is really neat. I've seen a few articles calling for more research into hurricane formation and causes. NOAA's pilot project is to use military drones to gather data in the areas of a hurricane that are too dangerous for the hurricane hunter aircraft to venture. The entire project is budgetted for $300,000 for 5 drones, called Aerosondes which will be launched from a vehicle travelling at around 60 mph.

The Aerosondes have a 10 foot wingspan and are designed with the viewpoint that if they are lost then so be it. "If we lose the aircraft, that is part of the process," said Peter Bale, an Aerosonde representative.

Piloted "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft typically gather data at 10,000 feet. The Aerosondes will gather data from 500 ft of less over the surface of the ocean. The data will help meteorologists predict windspeed and storm intensity over land better.

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