Observations from high-flying aircraft revealed that thunderclouds act as natural particle accelerators, emitting energetic electromagnetic radiation more often than scientists expected.
aircraft
Posted inResearch & Developments
NOAA Layoffs Include Two Hurricane Hunter Flight Directors
On 27 February, the Trump administration fired hundreds of employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Among those fired were two flight directors for NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters, a loss that threatens to worsen the quality of hurricane forecasts ahead of Atlantic hurricane season.
Posted inNews
Lots of Dust Gets Sucked Up by Jet Engines
Changing flight times and holding altitudes could substantially reduce the amount of wear-inducing dust ingested by jet engines.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Past and Future Changes in Atmospheric Clear-Air Turbulence
A new study evaluates long-term changes in atmospheric clear-air turbulence based on meteorological reanalysis and climate model simulations.
Posted inFeatures
Hunting Hurricanes
NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters risk their lives each time they fly into the eye of a storm to collect crucial data for forecasting, hurricane modeling, and research.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Thick Is Antarctic Ice, and What Is Underneath?
Scientists used electromagnetic fields to determine the thickness of fast ice.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Less Air Travel May Partially Contribute to Global Warming
Decrease in aircraft soot emission, as shown by COVID-19 lockdown, leads to a significant increase in ice crystal number in cirrus clouds, and results in a small global positive radiative effect.
Posted inScience Updates
Taking Flight to Study Clouds and Climate
A new mission involving synchronized aircraft observations is collecting data vital for improving our understanding of how aerosol particles and clouds influence each other.
Posted inFeatures
Glimpsing the Ins and Outs of the Arctic Atmospheric Cauldron
Specially equipped aircraft will follow air masses into and out of the Arctic, observing their transformations and improving our knowledge of the Arctic climate and its global influence.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Deciphering Reactive Nitrogen Emissions from Wildfire Smoke
In-situ data gathered from an aircraft flying over 23 western US wildfires in 2018 reveal the importance of reduced nitrogen, shedding insights on ozone and aerosol formation from wildfires.