edu.ucar.opensky::articles:23519 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-25T15:14:05.886331 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7kd224x https://doi.org/10.5065/D6RX99HX https Related Service #1 Cheyenne: SGI ICE XA Cluster Eye of the storm: Observing hurricanes with a small unmanned aircraft system 2020-03-05T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7kd224x https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0169.1 Cione, J. J. author Bryan, George H. author Dobosy, R. author Zhang, J. A. author de Boer, G. author Aksoy, A. author Wadler, J. B. author Kalina, E. A. author Dahl, B. A. author Ryan, K. author Neuhaus, J. author Dumas, E. author Marks, F. D. author Farber, A. M. author Hock, Terrence F. author Chen, X. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Unique data from seven flights of the Coyote small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) were collected in Hurricanes Maria (2017) and Michael (2018). Using NOAA's P-3 reconnaissance aircraft as a deployment vehicle, the sUAS collected high-frequency (>1 Hz) measurements in the turbulent boundary layer of hurricane eyewalls, including measurements of wind speed, wind direction, pressure, temperature, moisture, and sea surface temperature, which are valuable for advancing knowledge of hurricane structure and the process of hurricane intensification. This study presents an overview of the sUAS system and preliminary analyses that were enabled by these unique data. Among the most notable results are measurements of turbulence kinetic energy and momentum flux for the first time at low levels (<150 m) in a hurricane eyewall. At higher altitudes and lower wind speeds, where data were collected from previous flights of the NOAA P-3, the Coyote sUAS momentum flux values are encouragingly similar, thus demonstrating the ability of an sUAS to measure important turbulence properties in hurricane boundary layers. Analyses from a large-eddy simulation (LES) are used to place the Coyote measurements into context of the complicated high-wind eyewall region. Thermodynamic data are also used to evaluate the operational HWRF model, showing a cool, dry, and thermodynamically unstable bias near the surface. Preliminary data assimilation experiments also show how sUAS data can be used to improve analyses of storm structure. These results highlight the potential of sUAS operations in hurricanes and suggest opportunities for future work using these promising new observing platforms. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2020 American Meteorological Society (AMS). None eng geoscientificInformation