Surface wave buoys and subsurface water level sensors deployed in rapid response to Hurricane Francine

On Tuesday, September 10th, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Scientific Development Squadron (VXS-1) airdropped 16 instruments in the path of Hurricane Francine. This included surface wave buoys and subsurface water level sensors. Now in the third and final rapid response season of the NHCI project, this airdrop enabled key observations of Hurricane Francine as it made landfall on Wednesday, September 11th.

Figure 1. Map overview of the path of Hurricane Francine, the buoy deployment locations, and their subsequent drift over the course of the storm. Orange circles indicate the Submersible Spotters that are intended to sit at the sea floor observing overhead water levels, hence no drift trajectories.

Figure 2. A timeseries from microSWIFT 101, which the storm passed directly over, observing waves in excess of 8m.

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Update by Team:

Thomson

on

September 12, 2024

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