NOAA Weather In-Situ Deployment Optimization Method
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WISDOM Press Releases and Other News
WISDOM: Deploying horizontal balloon sondes in an optimum manner around weather disturbances
The WISDOM project seeks to improve the 3 to 7 day predictions of Atlantic hurricane track and intensity by deploying specialized balloons into important data sparse regions of the atmosphere. An interagency effort is underway, sponsored by DHS and NOAA, to test the concept during the 2008 hurricane season.
- The general system consists of a given set of ground-based release points in a large area around a weather disturbance.
- Each release point can release any number of balloons that will follow some trajectory through the atmosphere and communicate pertinent measurements to some collection point.
- Advanced modeling techniques will be used to identify the best regions for data collection and the optimal balloon launch sites.
- "Super-pressure" balloons will rise rapidly to a specified altitude and float along the previously estimated trajectory into the targeted region.
- Each balloon will carry a mini (100 gram) GPS unit, atmospheric measuring devices, and transmitters to send location and weather data at regular intervals to satellite or surface receivers.
The long term goal is to saturate the data void for every major storm with several hundred balloons to measurably improve the 3 to 7 day hurricane forecast. Observations from these data void areas will significantly improve the 24 hour forecast, saving lives and property, conserve energy, and potentially save millions of dollars.