# 4709
In this case, GRIP stands for the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes field experiment NASA is conducting to try to understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes.
While tremendous strides have been made over the past several decades in prediction the path of these storms, far less progress has been made in predicting future intensity.
This was driven home in 2004 when Hurricane Charley – after crossing the Dry Tortugas with winds of 110 mph (a strong Cat 2), suddenly and unexpectedly intensified into a strong Category 4 storm (150 mph) over a period of just a couple of hours.
The only saving grace was that the eye of this storm was very small, and so the swath of destruction was limited. Small solace to those in the path, however.
In October of 2005 Hurricane Wilma spun up from a tropical storm to a CAT 5 monster in just over 24 hours.
Luckily it had lost much of its punch before slamming into the Everglades near Cape Romano, but still managed to cause 20 billion dollars of damage across Miami and much of South Florida.
Thousands of residents were without electrical power for 2 weeks or longer, which highlights the need for anyone who lives in hurricane country to be prepared for more than just a day or two.
Wilma’s path
NASA, which most people think of as simply a space exploration agency, it is also heavily involved in researching earth science, including:
- the global atmosphere;
- the global oceans including sea ice;
- land surfaces including snow and ice;
- ecosystems; and
- interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, land and ecosystems, including humans.
And understanding how hurricanes form and intensify are part of their job (see NASA’s Hurricane Page).
Although 2009 was a relatively quiet year for Atlantic Hurricanes, NASA/NOAA have produced an almost hypnotic 4-minute video (available on the NASAexplorer Youtube channel) showing last year’s tropical cyclone genesis.
This year, all of the forecasts (outlooks, really) are for a much more active season. If that prediction comes true, the 2010 video ought to be a real eye-opener.
This summer NASA will undertake an ambitious mission to monitor the development of tropical systems using unmanned Northrop Grumman Global Hawks.
The hope is to better understand how, and why storms experience rapid intensification in order to improve forecasting.
As a bit of a science geek, I found this report on that mission from NASA to be fascinating.
NASA's GRIP to Take Unprecedented Look Inside Hurricanes
07.07.10
NASA's Global Hawk unmanned drone, based at Dryden Flight Research Center in California, will provide unprecedented, sustained observations of the formation and strengthening of tropical cyclones during this summer's GRIP campaign. Until now, manned flights have only been able to capture two to fours of data over a storm at a time. The Global Hawk will be able to make up to 20 consecutive hours of measurements. Credit: NASA/Dryden/Carla Thomas
The spinning, counterclockwise drama plays out across TV screens all summer long. Satellite images show a tropical depression forming off the coast of Africa, and the people at home invariably ask the same question as the forecasters and the scientists: Will it or won't it become a hurricane?
This August and September, NASA is leading an aircraft campaign that will provide a sustained and unprecedented look at the inner workings of hurricane formation and intensification. The Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment will take place from Aug. 15 to Sept. 30 and employ three NASA aircraft flying over the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea to try to answer some of the basic but still lingering questions about how and why hurricanes form and strengthen.
NASA has flown over hurricanes before to gather data on precipitation, winds, convection, temperature and other factors that are known cyclone ingredients. The logistical demands of doing so have only allowed for two to four hours of data collection at a time, a snapshot of a storm that could spin for days. But for the first time, scientists will fly an unmanned drone, outfitted with 3-D radar, a microwave radiometer and other instruments over tropical systems for up to 20 consecutive hours.
(Continue . . .)
May was National Hurricane Preparedness week, and during that month this blog devoted considerable time to the subject. A few of my blogs on the subject included:
A Hurricane Reality Check
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Day 6
NOAA 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Outlook
The Worst That Could Happen
Hurricanes and Inland Flooding
Why I’ll Be Gone With The Wind
Storm Surge Monday
The Crossroads Of The Atlantic Storm Season
You Don’t Have To Live On The Coast
