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With the advent of another hurricane season, residents across the southeast will be tuning into weather reports to track wind speeds of approaching tropical storms. Soon this information will be even more accurate, thanks to research by UNC Asheville atmospheric sciences Assistant Professor Christopher Hennon.
Hennon and W. Linwood Jones, University of Central Florida professor of electrical and computer engineering, were recently awarded a $502,000 grant from NASA to develop new techniques for measuring wind speeds of tropical storms far out at sea. Hennon and Jones hope their research will result in better early warning information for residents in hurricane-prone areas. Currently atmospheric scientists can obtain very little accurate information about hurricane winds until the storms are approaching the shore. Over the next three years, Jones will develop techniques to better calculate high wind speeds; Hennon and UNC Asheville atmospheric science students John Allard and Amy Harless will test the techniques using actual wind observations of past hurricanes. �There are just a handful of people around the world doing this kind of research using satellite wind retrieval data from past hurricanes,� said Hennon. �In the end, this rather theoretical research will have real-world application. It will help scientists know more about a storm�s structure when it�s still far out to sea and will help provide better early warning systems for people who live in the storm�s path.� Hennon, who joined UNC Asheville�s faculty last year, holds a doctorate in atmospheric science from Ohio State University. Previously, he worked as a visiting scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tropical Prediction Center and the National Hurricane Center in Miami. (Images provided by NOAA.)
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