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.
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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.
Posted inFeatures
Greening the Friendly Skies
Decarbonizing the aviation industry won’t be easy. The coronavirus pandemic complicates the situation but also presents an opportunity.
Posted inNews
The Art of Volcanic Ash Modeling 10 Years After Eyjafjallajökull
The ash plumes from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano in 2010 disrupted air travel in Europe for several weeks. Since then, scientists have developed models to mitigate ash’s impacts.
Posted inNews
Contrails’ Climate Impact Could Triple by 2050
Contrail cirrus clouds have warmed the atmosphere more than all the carbon dioxide from planes since the dawn of aviation and will do so even more in the future.
Posted inNews
Airborne Gravity Surveys Are Remaking Elevations in the U.S.
Measuring gravity’s tiny fluctuations is giving the United States an upgraded system of elevations.