Hurricanes and typhoons (hurricanes that form in the ocean) are becoming more damaging as the planet’s surface warms. This means stronger winds, more rain, and more flooding from storm surge. A recent study published in Nature also points out that not only are they more powerful, but climate change will make it more likely that two storms will strike in quick succession. “In the future – say the authors – such disasters will be more common”.
To try to obtain more information and anticipate these meteorological phenomena, NASA has launched the first of a series of four satellites designed to track tropical cyclones hour by hour from a base in New Zealand. This will be a marked improvement in data collection as it data is currently received every 6 hours of satellites.
“We still need the big satellites,” explained Will McCarty, NASA’s TROPICS mission manager. What we get out of this is the ability to add more information to the flagship satellites we already have. We’ll get data that we’ve never had before, which is this ability to look in the microwave wavelength region of storms, on an hourly basis to watch the storm as it forms and intensifies. We hope to improve our understanding of the basic processes that drive storms and ultimately improve our ability to forecast and track intensity«.
Information obtained about precipitation, temperature and humidity could help scientists determine where a hurricane will make landfall and how intense it will be, helping people living in coastal areas to be better prepared for possible evacuations. To the two satellites launched, another two will be added at the end of May. These are Cubesats, small satellites, of the size of a loaf of bread.
“It’s the Cubesat revolution – concludes McCarty -. By complementing the information from the largest meteorological satellites, we will help in a prevention task that is currently essential because these events will increase. Even if we only manage to put into orbit two of the four Cubesatswe will have a lot of material to learn”.
The releases occur just as the northern hemisphere hurricane season is about to begin (approximately May 15) which will allow plenty of time to gather information. Every year about 85 cyclones occur on the planet and more than 70% of them in the northern hemisphere. As for hurricanes, 40 were registered in 2022, but since they occur on land, their consequences are often much more serious.
