Using a special drone vessel, researchers have captured the violence at sea caused by a hurricane. The images are impressive.

The images were taken yesterday on the open sea by a specially developed drone ship: Saildrone Explorer SD 1045. The drone is part of a fleet of five Saildrones that float in the Atlantic Ocean during hurricane season to collect more information about the origin and the development of volcanoes. Based on that data, scientists hope to gain a better picture of the driving forces behind hurricanes and to be able to predict more accurately how big and powerful hurricanes will become.

sam

And in pursuit of that information, Saildrone Explorer SD 1045 faced Hurricane Sam yesterday. The drone ended up in the middle of the hurricane, but continued to film. It results in the first-ever video footage captured by a drone in a hurricane.

The images reveal how the drone is tossed back and forth on meters high waves. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – owner of the Saildrones – the drone had to deal with waves up to 15 meters high and wind speeds of almost 200 kilometers per hour.

Special design

That the Saildrone can tell is due to the fact that it was specially designed for this. It is actually a small boat with a special ‘hurricane fin’ on it. This fin ensures that the boat remains upright even in extreme wind and waves. “Saildrone goes where no research vessel has gone before, heading straight for the eye of the hurricane,” said Richard Jenkins, founder of the company that manufactures the Saildrones. “Having previously reached the Arctic and Southern Oceans with Saildrones, hurricanes were the last hurdle to overcome. We are proud to have developed a vessel that can operate in the most extreme weather conditions on Earth.”

In addition to the images that SD1045 has made, a lot of data has also been collected. An analysis of this will follow and will undoubtedly lead to new insights. “By using data collected by the saildrones, we expect to improve the models we use to predict rapid intensification of hurricanes,” said NOAA researcher Greg Foltz. “Rapid intensification, with strong winds in a few hours, is a serious threat to coastal communities. New data from saildrones and other unmanned systems used by NOAA will help us better understand the drivers of hurricanes and alert communities earlier.”