Are you interested in seeing the inside of a storm?
Now you can, thanks to a startup called Saildrone and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which last week launched their storm robots directly into HurricaneFiona, a ferocious storm whose damage continues to ravage Puerto Rico and Canada's east coast
How often does one get to see 50-foot waves and winds higher than 100 mph up close?
Saildrone notes in a press release that one of the seven storm chasers they have deployed around the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico is named theSD 1078. The fleet is gathering data to help understand the physical processes of hurricanes.
As awe inspiring as the footage from withinFiona is, these robots serve another purpose beyond satisfying our morbid curiosity, they also give important information about storms like Ian, which is currently brewing in the Caribbean Sea and set to make landfall in Florida soon.
The Saildrone fleet helps scientists better understand hurricanes and tropical storms before, during, and after they wreak havoc.
Combining in situ ocean data with a better understanding of the ocean floor will help us predict both storm intensity and storm surge.
It's a privilege that used to be reserved for unaware coastal and island residents, or the storm chasing set. We can use robots to take video of storms and help us understand them better.
Hurricane season is even worse because of supply chain shortages.
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