Jacob Davis, a 黑料吃瓜网 doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, (right) releases a wave-monitoring sensor from a U.S. Navy aircraft on Sept. 26 off the coast of Florida. Data from this instrument developed at the 黑料吃瓜网 Applied Physics Laboratory will be combined with other observations to try and improve hurricane forecasts around the world.
Researchers dropped technology developed at the 黑料吃瓜网 off the coast of Florida on Monday to measure ocean waves in the path of Hurricane Ian. The test is one part of a broad effort to improve forecasts for these fast-moving and deadly systems.
The team, including , a 黑料吃瓜网 doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, and members of the U.S. Navy鈥檚 VXS-1 Squadron deployed the devices in the path of Hurricane Ian, before the hurricane made landfall. The five instruments developed at the 黑料吃瓜网 are now sending back data that can be viewed on this .
The 黑料吃瓜网-built sensors are known as the , or SWIFTs. For this project, the team used a smaller version, known as microSWIFTs. The sensors can drift with the waves to gather detailed measurements of waves and currents at the ocean鈥檚 surface. Past deployments used the sensors to study waves in the changing Arctic Ocean and near potential sites for marine turbines.
The current effort in the path of Hurricane Ian aims to understand how the extreme low-pressure storm system affects the ocean and, ultimately, coastal areas.
鈥淭he goal is to understand the details of wave generation in hurricanes, which are unique in how fast they move and how strong the winds are. This causes rapid wave evolution that鈥檚 not well described by current forecast models,鈥� said Jim Thomson, an oceanographer at the 黑料吃瓜网 Applied Physics Laboratory and a 黑料吃瓜网 professor of civil and environmental engineering. 鈥淭he end goal is to improve the forecasts for when and where waves will impact the coasts, including storm surge.鈥�
Researchers emphasize that the deployment is part of a . The microSWIFT observations at the ocean鈥檚 surface will be combined with other observations, including technologies deployed on the same flight by Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Sofar Ocean Technologies.
This work was done with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program鈥檚 Hurricane Coastal Impacts program with supporting flights by the U.S. Navy鈥檚 Scientific Development Squadron. The research was funded by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program and managed by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research.
For more information contact Davis at davisjr@uw.edu or Thomson at jthomson@apl.washington.edu. (Note: Thomson is on a ship in the Arctic and his responses will be delayed)
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