NASA Launches Groundbreaking Mission to Revolutionize Severe Winter Weather Forecasting
A team of scientists from NASA has embarked on a historic airborne mission to better understand severe winter storms and improve weather forecasting. The North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment, or NURTURE, aims to collect detailed atmospheric data using a suite of remote sensing instruments to enhance models that feed storm forecasts.
For the next month, NASA's Gulfstream III aircraft will conduct flights spanning from the Northern Atlantic Ocean over Canada to the Northeast United States, measuring moisture, clouds, and ozone as winter storms develop. This initial phase will serve as a crucial step towards understanding severe weather events, including cold air outbreaks, windstorms, hazardous seas, snow and ice storms, sea ice breakup, and extreme precipitation.
The NURTURE mission is part of NASA's ongoing effort to leverage its expertise and resources for the benefit of humanity. By outfitting their aircraft with cutting-edge instruments, researchers will be able to collect data that can inform first responders, decision makers, and the public sooner. This technology has the potential to be developed for use on future space-based missions, providing a vital upgrade in our ability to predict severe weather events.
The second phase of the campaign, set to launch next year, will utilize NASA's new airborne science laboratory, a Boeing 777. These flights will cover a larger range of over 3,100 miles and will gather detailed observations of the atmosphere over Europe, Greenland, the North Atlantic Ocean, Canada, much of the U.S., and the Arctic Ocean.
According to Will McCarty, weather program manager at NASA's Headquarters in Washington, "Part of NASA's role is to innovate and put our science data into action. The NURTURE campaign is doing exactly that by providing us with unique insights into severe winter storms."
Amin Nehrir, a research scientist at NASA Langley, added that the current limitations of space-based observations in high latitudes are hindering our ability to gather accurate data on severe weather events. By utilizing cutting-edge technology on board their aircraft, researchers will be able to collect valuable data that can help track weather systems and understand the large-scale flows and small-scale features that drive these extreme weather events.
As a collaborative effort with international partners, including NOAA and researchers from the University of Oklahoma, NASA is committed to advancing our understanding of severe winter storms. The NURTURE mission will provide a critical step towards developing more accurate forecasting models, ultimately saving lives and reducing economic losses associated with severe weather events.
A team of scientists from NASA has embarked on a historic airborne mission to better understand severe winter storms and improve weather forecasting. The North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment, or NURTURE, aims to collect detailed atmospheric data using a suite of remote sensing instruments to enhance models that feed storm forecasts.
For the next month, NASA's Gulfstream III aircraft will conduct flights spanning from the Northern Atlantic Ocean over Canada to the Northeast United States, measuring moisture, clouds, and ozone as winter storms develop. This initial phase will serve as a crucial step towards understanding severe weather events, including cold air outbreaks, windstorms, hazardous seas, snow and ice storms, sea ice breakup, and extreme precipitation.
The NURTURE mission is part of NASA's ongoing effort to leverage its expertise and resources for the benefit of humanity. By outfitting their aircraft with cutting-edge instruments, researchers will be able to collect data that can inform first responders, decision makers, and the public sooner. This technology has the potential to be developed for use on future space-based missions, providing a vital upgrade in our ability to predict severe weather events.
The second phase of the campaign, set to launch next year, will utilize NASA's new airborne science laboratory, a Boeing 777. These flights will cover a larger range of over 3,100 miles and will gather detailed observations of the atmosphere over Europe, Greenland, the North Atlantic Ocean, Canada, much of the U.S., and the Arctic Ocean.
According to Will McCarty, weather program manager at NASA's Headquarters in Washington, "Part of NASA's role is to innovate and put our science data into action. The NURTURE campaign is doing exactly that by providing us with unique insights into severe winter storms."
Amin Nehrir, a research scientist at NASA Langley, added that the current limitations of space-based observations in high latitudes are hindering our ability to gather accurate data on severe weather events. By utilizing cutting-edge technology on board their aircraft, researchers will be able to collect valuable data that can help track weather systems and understand the large-scale flows and small-scale features that drive these extreme weather events.
As a collaborative effort with international partners, including NOAA and researchers from the University of Oklahoma, NASA is committed to advancing our understanding of severe winter storms. The NURTURE mission will provide a critical step towards developing more accurate forecasting models, ultimately saving lives and reducing economic losses associated with severe weather events.