[imagesource: RAMMB NOAA]

Weather-related drone footage is often shot by storm chasers brave enough to send their devices towards the roaring elements to capture the intimate workings of a natural disaster.

Like Brian Emfinger, whose drone got klapped so hard by a tornado in the US that it didn’t survive, bar some footage that was saved.

Those drones are just in it for the stunts, but then there are also drones sent out for more noble causes, like scientific research.

Saildrone Inc. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are working together to collect scientific data from inside massive hurricanes.

Recently, they shared footage from an ocean drone and an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) that were inside a major hurricane moving across the Atlantic Ocean – Hurricane Sam.

Strap in, because this is a seriously bumpy ride:

Saildrone has more:

[The Saildrone Explorer] SD 1045 [was] battling 50-foot [15-metre] waves and winds of over 120 mph [193 kilometres per hour] to collect critical scientific data and, in the process, [was] giving us a completely new view of one of Earth’s most destructive forces.

The drone in question is equipped with a specially designed “hurricane wing”, which enables it to operate in extreme weather conditions.

Part of its quest is to collect real-time observations for numerical hurricane prediction models, which can hopefully tell scientists more about the physical processes of hurricanes, like how large and destructive they can grow and intensify.

Understanding more about all this can improve storm forecasting and can even end up reducing the loss of human life by allowing better preparedness in coastal communities.

The bumpy ride continues from the first video you saw:

Two hours later, it is still pretty rough out there:

SD 1045 is one of a fleet of five “hurricane” saildrones that have been operating in the Atlantic Ocean during this hurricane season.

[source:saildrone]