Scientists seeking to discover the atmospheric effects of hurricanes have a new tool at their disposal:  Saildrone.  The 23-foot long aquatic vessel literally sails right into the maelstrom of a cyclone to collect data on the interface between the storm’s winds and the water’s surface.  That’s been a missing link in hurricane observation for decades, and it’s allowing scientists to better understand how hurricanes intensify and to predict their trajectory and likely effects before they make landfall, often causing severe damage.

Saildrone’s latest mission is documenting the ongoing development of Hurricane Idalia off the Atlantic Coast. The vessel took off from its base in St. Petersburg, FL on August 29 and began filming the storm’s massive 23-foot waves from the water’s surface.  Footage from the drone was recently posted on the website of the national National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency responsible for monitoring extreme weather events.  The images – along with the drone’s sensor-based data modules –  illustrate the progression of the hurricane over time, as it builds in intensity and destructive power, often in a  matter of a few hours.

“While hurricane track forecasting has steadily improved in recent years, predicting rapid intensification is still a significant challenge,” said Cristina Castillo, Saildrone’s senior program manager.   In the past, scientists have used  a variety of marine vessels, including underwater gliders and floats, as well as moored buoys, to study cyclones, but none with the technological capacity, mobility and staying power of a surface drone.

“The key here is we can steer these sail drones into the strongest parts of hurricanes and get measurements that nothing else can,” said Greg Foltz, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer and science lead for the agency’s Saildrone hurricane team.

NOAA and Saildrone have been collaborating in extreme weather drone surveillance for nearly two years. In their first joint venture in August 2021, they sent five wind drones into the Atlantic Ocean basin – three in the Caribbean and two near the U.S. East Coast, in anticipation of another season of inevitable hurricanes.  That maiden voyage proved a mixed success as the drone failed to withstand the destructive power of a Category storm to complete its mission.

NOAA and Saildrone went back to the drawing board and built a better sturdier drone.  The current model is constructed to withstand a hurricane’s 100-mph winds and giant swells without capsizing, but if it does, it can also re-right itself and continue its observations.  Scientists can track Saildrone’s movements remotely, adjust its speed and camera angles,  and continually re-route the vessel to focus on different aspects of a developing storm.

Saildrone enjoys a major operational advantage over most aerial drones: It relies on a combination of wind and solar power, so its batteries remain continually charged. The vessel can slowly motor its way across a vast ocean, operating on call and collecting data for days on end.  Some Saildrone missions have lasted for weeks.  The latest Idalia observation was conducted over just nine hours.

NOAA claims to have some 12 surface drones currently operating in the Atlantic as well as the Gulf of Mexico.  Many of the drones are pre-positioned in areas of sea known to be prone to hurricanes and other major storms to allow the craft to capture the weather events in their earliest stages.