Storm Chasers
Current storm missions are here.
When conditions favorable for
hurricane development are observed, either by surface observation or by weather
satellite, the National Hurricane
Center in Miami, Fla. and other centers worldwide, alert the flying weather
crews. Their job: to determine the precise location, motion, strength, and size
of the storm, and transmit the information by satellite to the National
Hurricane Center for dissemination to the respect threat area. Similar
flights and reporting are done world wide in other countries threatened by
seasonal severe weather.
Hurricanes are made up of dense thunderstorms, which often contain severe
turbulence and heavy rain. The eye is usually surrounded by a solid
ring of thunderstorms called the eyewall, and is where the strongest winds are
usually found. Sometimes the clouds and rain are so thick, the
aircraft’s wing tips are barely visible. The storm’s eye, by contrast, is
virtually cloud free and is comparatively calm.
Hurricanes are not the only weather systems that are tracked. Other violent storms or threatening weather may also need airborne analysis to properly predict the potential of the storm or gather pure scientific data.
Aircraft used vary depending on the mission. Long range data missions are flown using the Boeing 757-200 Cargo with a modular data gathering pallet placed in the cargo bay. These flights are used during the long range initial tracking of developing storms. The jet's mission covers thousands of square miles surrounding the hurricane, gathering, with newly developed GPS dropwindsondes, vital high-altitude data needed for improved numerical forecast models.
Once the storm
and approaches land, Lockheed L188 and C130s conduct the actual
storm penetration flights. The
first hurricane missions are often flown at low-level, between 500 and 1500
feet. These low-level investigative missions are flown to determine if the winds
near the ocean surface are blowing in a complete, counter- clockwise circle,
then to find the center of this closed circulation. This is the first stage of a
developing tropical cyclone.
As the storm builds in strength, the aircraft enter a storm at low-level, 5000,
or 10,000 feet of altitude, choosing higher altitudes as the storm becomes more
severe. The tops of the storm clouds may reach up to 40,000 or 50,000 feet, so
the aircraft do not fly over the storm, but go right through the thick of the
weather to collect the most valuable information. The Alpha Pattern flown
through the storm looks like an "X". The crews fly at least 105 miles
in each corner of the storm to map the extent of the damaging winds, and pass
through the eye every two hours, continuing the pattern until the next aircraft
is ready to take its place in the around-the-clock surveillance of the storm.
The above diagram shows an actual hurricane surveillance operation. Note how the Gulfstream IV on the left flew in advance of the storm at higher altitudes to gather data in the hurricanes path. The P-3 Orion flew around and in the storm to gather data on the hurricane close up. Note the Alpha Patterns flown in the hurricane itself (the red figures). The Cardinal 757s will be used in the same manner as the Gulfstream IV in this diagram and, likewise, the L188 will be used similarly to the P-3.
SIMULATION
Cardinal will simulate these missions in several ways. Some missions will be flown to track real world storms as they develop. Mission information will be posted and Cardinal pilots will fly the mission as outlined in the orders. Weather information will obtained through several methods. First, the FS2K Jeppeson data will work fine for weather near reporting airports. The other method will be to use Squawkbox weather. Squawkbox weather seems to be more up to date now that VATSIM has come online. Multiplayer missions will be flown with Squawkbox weather to ensure all players have the same information do to FS98 not having the Jeppeson weather..
The limitation in the above two methods is that the information is only from METARs of reporting airfields. So, the storm has to be close to a reporting station before you will see the effects. Flights over the distant ocean won't receive flight information as there are no reported METARs. Also, METAR reports don't cover high altitude weather affects.
The most accurate weather data can be obtained through FS Meteo, a commercial program. This program has the extra feature of downloading upper level weather information. Do a search for the program on flightsim.com or avsim.com if you are interested.
The final method will entail using the Cardinal server with a weather file setup that simulates a hurricane by reporting different weather patterns at various locations. This will be used for multiplayer operations for fictional storm missions.
To find the location of the storm, follow the instruction in the mission order. Additionally, real storm locations can be found on the internet. One good source is the Weather Underground shown on the link section below.
LINKS
These links will be useful and or interesting for your flights. If you know of others, especially others worldwide, let CAL16 know:
Weather Underground: Use the Tropical Storm page to get tracking information for the storm to plan your mission. Here you will find the longitude and latitude of the current storm.
53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron: The United States Air Force unit responsible for flying into the hurricanes threaten the Americas and gathering data.
NOAA Aircraft Operations Center: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site for its hurricane hunting aircraft. A lot of interesting information.
Have Fun!!