NASA's Latest Mission to Improve Severe Winter Weather Forecasting
As winter storms intensify and become increasingly unpredictable, NASA has embarked on an ambitious international mission aimed at revolutionizing severe weather forecasting. The North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment (NURTURE) is a cutting-edge airborne campaign utilizing advanced remote sensing instruments to collect atmospheric data on winter weather patterns.
The NURTURE aircraft, a Gulfstream III, departed from NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia on January 24, with the team embarking on a nearly month-long journey over Canada and the Northeast United States. During this time, the plane will be collecting crucial data on moisture, clouds, and ozone levels as winter storms develop.
The mission is part of NASA's larger effort to improve storm forecasting models by leveraging its expertise and resources. "Part of NASA's role is to innovate and put our science into action," said Will McCarty, weather program manager at NASA's Headquarters. "The NURTURE campaign is doing exactly that by outfitting our aircraft with one-of-a-kind instruments designed to understand the complexities of severe winter events."
In addition to the NURTURE mission, a parallel international partner campaign, led by the North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion, and Downstream Impact Campaign (NAWDIC), will be operating out of Shannon, Ireland. Meanwhile, NOAA will also be conducting an airborne mission studying moisture transport from the tropics to the Western United States.
By combining data from these campaigns, scientists will be able to track weather systems globally, better understanding large-scale flows and small-scale features that drive severe winter events such as cold air outbreaks, windstorms, hazardous seas, snow and ice storms, sea ice breakup, and extreme precipitation.
The NURTURE mission is a critical step towards improving the accuracy of severe winter weather forecasts. "These storms are not forecasted very accurately," said Amin Nehrir, research scientist at NASA Langley. "By using cutting-edge technology, we can gather data on atmospheric dynamics that will inform decision makers and first responders sooner."
The potential impact of this mission is significant, with effects from severe weather events costing billions in damages to infrastructure and lives. The NURTURE mission marks an important milestone in NASA's commitment to leveraging its expertise and resources for the benefit of humanity.
Visit the NURATURE website to learn more about this groundbreaking research: https://espo.nasa.gov/nurture
As winter storms intensify and become increasingly unpredictable, NASA has embarked on an ambitious international mission aimed at revolutionizing severe weather forecasting. The North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment (NURTURE) is a cutting-edge airborne campaign utilizing advanced remote sensing instruments to collect atmospheric data on winter weather patterns.
The NURTURE aircraft, a Gulfstream III, departed from NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia on January 24, with the team embarking on a nearly month-long journey over Canada and the Northeast United States. During this time, the plane will be collecting crucial data on moisture, clouds, and ozone levels as winter storms develop.
The mission is part of NASA's larger effort to improve storm forecasting models by leveraging its expertise and resources. "Part of NASA's role is to innovate and put our science into action," said Will McCarty, weather program manager at NASA's Headquarters. "The NURTURE campaign is doing exactly that by outfitting our aircraft with one-of-a-kind instruments designed to understand the complexities of severe winter events."
In addition to the NURTURE mission, a parallel international partner campaign, led by the North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion, and Downstream Impact Campaign (NAWDIC), will be operating out of Shannon, Ireland. Meanwhile, NOAA will also be conducting an airborne mission studying moisture transport from the tropics to the Western United States.
By combining data from these campaigns, scientists will be able to track weather systems globally, better understanding large-scale flows and small-scale features that drive severe winter events such as cold air outbreaks, windstorms, hazardous seas, snow and ice storms, sea ice breakup, and extreme precipitation.
The NURTURE mission is a critical step towards improving the accuracy of severe winter weather forecasts. "These storms are not forecasted very accurately," said Amin Nehrir, research scientist at NASA Langley. "By using cutting-edge technology, we can gather data on atmospheric dynamics that will inform decision makers and first responders sooner."
The potential impact of this mission is significant, with effects from severe weather events costing billions in damages to infrastructure and lives. The NURTURE mission marks an important milestone in NASA's commitment to leveraging its expertise and resources for the benefit of humanity.
Visit the NURATURE website to learn more about this groundbreaking research: https://espo.nasa.gov/nurture