NASA researchers studying tropical cyclones

Erica Hupp/Marta Metelko
Headquarters, Washington June 23, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1237/1642)

RELEASE: 05-159

NASA RESEARCHERS STUDYING TROPICAL CYCLONES

NASA hurricane researchers are deploying to Costa Rica next month to
investigate the birthplace of eastern Pacific tropical cyclones. They will
be
searching for clues that could lead to a greater understanding and better
predictability of one of the world?s most significant weather events ? the
hurricane.

As scientists and coastal residents brace for another potentially
challenging
hurricane season, NASA is launching the Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes
(TCSP) mission. TCSP is a month-long research effort primarily intended to
document "cyclogenesis," the birth of tropical storms, hurricanes and
related
phenomena.

Researchers will monitor oceanic thunderstorms to study why some systems
develop
into tropical cyclones and some do not. Researchers feel the data is vital
to
understanding how such weather systems evolve and travel. The data also
could
support development of a more accurate and timely warning system to help
safeguard property and lives.

A team of atmospheric scientists, engineers and aircraft personnel will take
up
residence in San Jose, Costa Rica during July. The NASA team will work with
the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Costa Rican
Centro
Nacional de Alta Tecnologia (CENAT). The team will conduct ground-based and
airborne studies to measure the buildup and behavior of tropical storm
systems on
Costa Rica's east and west coasts.

Missions will be flown over the region using NASA's ER-2 and NOAA's WP-3D
Orion
aircraft and with unmanned aerial vehicles (aerosondes). The unmanned
flights
will be managed in conjunction with the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The
airborne experiments will collect temperature, humidity, precipitation, and
wind
information related to tropical cyclones and other phenomena that often lead
to
development of more powerful storms at sea. The field operations will also
take
advantage of several NASA and NOAA satellites.

NASA and the Instituto Meteorologico Nacional of Costa Rica also will launch
a
series of RS-92 series, balloon-borne probes (sondes), to measure humidity
and
other data related to tropical storm origins.
-more-
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?Costa Rica is an ideal location for this research,? said Dr. Ramesh Kakar,
Weather Focus Area leader for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. A vast
number
of tropical storms and hurricanes impacting the eastern Pacific are spawned
near
the small Central American nation's western coast.

"In the Atlantic, cyclogenesis often occurs off the western coast of Africa,
or
sufficiently far out over the ocean that long-duration science flights are
extremely difficult," Kakar said. "In the eastern Pacific near Costa Rica,
however, it is possible to study the genesis process from formation of the
initial disturbance until, in some cases, it grows into a hurricane over a
more
compact geographical region."

Researchers also will be able to take advantage of their proximity to the
Caribbean and the western Gulf of Mexico, studying tropical systems off
Costa
Rica's eastern shores during more mature phases of development.

"This experiment is significant for two reasons," said Robbie Hood, an
atmospheric scientist at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
She
is one of three lead scientists for the project in Costa Rica. "We will have
an
opportunity to take a closer look at the factors contributing to the
initiation
and intensification of tropical cyclones which are still somewhat mysterious
processes for researchers and operational forecasters. We will also be
examining
what are the best combinations of satellite and aircraft technologies to
improve
how hurricanes are monitored and predicted," she said.

"Building on a quarter century of ever improving spaceborne observations of
the
Earth, we are entering an exciting new era. It will be using information
collected by satellites and uninhabited aerial vehicles to the best
advantage for
improved weather prediction and other societal benefits," Hood said.

The new study continues NASA's successful Convection and Moisture Experiment
(CAMEX) research series, conducted from 1998 to 2001 with NOAA. TCSP
participants
include NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, five NASA centers, 10 American
universities and partner agencies in Costa Rica. For more information about
TCSP
on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/loo...cane_2005.html

http://tcsp.nsstc.nasa.gov/tcsp

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info