More Hurricane Drones to Fly Into Atlantic This Season

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are planning to send more drones flying into hurricanes that develop during the upcoming Atlantic storm season.

NOAA first launched the 13-pound winged drones into Hurricane Edouard last September. This year, the unmanned aircrafts have more sophisticated sensors that will allow them to fly farther from the “hurricane hunter” aircraft that relays storm data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The drones can fly into the lowest levels of a hurricane where larger aircrafts can’t go to measure barometric pressure, temperature and wind speeds.