Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel

Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel
Name	Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel
Mission type	Earth science
Operator	National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Science Foundation
Launch mass	700 kg
Power	1.2 kW
Launch date	2013-08-??
Launch vehicle	Northrop Grumman United Launch Alliance
Orbit	Low Earth orbit

Contents

Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel

The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel was an airborne and spaceborne observational initiative combining platforms and instruments from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Science Foundation to study tropical cyclones, convective storms, and atmospheric dynamics. The program integrated technologies from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Langley Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, and university partners such as University of Miami and Colorado State University to improve forecasting and risk reduction. It coordinated with operational agencies including National Hurricane Center and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to deliver data used by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and regional authorities.

Overview

Conceptual roots trace to field campaigns such as Hurricane Rainband and Intensity Change Experiment, 2005 Atlantic hurricane season response efforts, and programs led by National Center for Atmospheric Research and University of Washington. Funding and management involved NASA Headquarters, NOAA Research, and competitive awards from National Science Foundation with proposals from teams at Pennsylvania State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and Florida State University. Prototype instrumentation borrowed heritage from MODIS, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer, Doppler radar developments at NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory, and airborne lidar systems tested with support from Office of Naval Research and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Instrument suites combined microwave radiometers inspired by Special Sensor Microwave/Imager, Doppler wind lidar concepts advanced at NASA Langley Research Center, cloud-profiling radar similar to CloudSat instruments, dropsonde systems used by NOAA Hurricane Hunters, and hyperspectral sounders developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Platforms integrated remote sensing, in situ sampling, and airborne radar tomography influenced by research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Naval Research Laboratory, and Colorado State University. The observatory architecture allowed coordinated flights with Hurricane Hunter assets, assimilation into models at NOAA Environmental Modeling Center, and real-time data relay to centers like National Hurricane Center and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Field deployments occurred in collaboration with operational missions during notable events such as responses to the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Sandy, and Hurricane Maria, with coordination through facilities including Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Space Force Base. Operations utilized international partnerships with agencies like Met Office, Météo-France, Japan Meteorological Agency, and research groups from UK Met Office Hadley Centre and Spanish Meteorological Agency. Data were shared under agreements similar to those used in Global Precipitation Measurement, enabling assimilation into forecasting systems run by NOAA National Weather Service and regional services in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

The program produced advances in understanding rapid intensification, eyewall replacement cycles, and storm surge interactions by combining airborne Doppler observations with satellite microwave sounding and ocean surface flux measurements developed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Findings influenced parameterizations in models at Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and contributed to improved track and intensity forecasts used by National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Publications from teams at Florida State University, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and Texas A&M University linked observational datasets to studies on climate variability involving Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and attribution frameworks used by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The initiative left a legacy of instrument designs adopted in later missions such as successors to Aqua (satellite) and enhancements to operational reconnaissance by NOAA Aircraft Operations Center. Its datasets became part of archives maintained by National Centers for Environmental Information and informed resilience planning used by Federal Emergency Management Agency, municipal agencies, insurance analysts at firms like Munich Re, and international disaster risk reduction efforts coordinated with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Training programs at universities including University of Miami, Colorado State University, and Cornell University continued to use project datasets to educate the next generation of atmospheric scientists.