The Hurricane Research Division (HRD) is a section of the

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), a federal research laboratory, is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), located in Miami in the Unite ...

(AOML) in Miami, Florida, and is the U.S.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

's (NOAA) focus for tropical cyclone research. The thirty member division is not a part of the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...

but cooperates closely with them in carrying out its annual field program and in transitioning research results into operational tools for hurricane forecasters. HRD was formed from the

National Hurricane Research Laboratory The National Hurricane Research Laboratory (NHRL) is the hurricane research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was formed in December 1964 out of the National Hurricane Research Project, the U. S. Weather Bureau's effor ...

in 1984, when it was transferred to AOML and unified with the oceanographic laboratories. In August, 1992, the AOML/HRD facility sustained moderate damage after the passage of

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...

across southern

Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

, however, despite significant personal disruption to the lives of almost all of its staff members, HRD reconnaissance flights continued into Andrew until it made a final landfall along the Louisiana coastline several days later. During the 1990s the HRD staff continued to refine its forecasting models, and although a period that included the retirement or transfer of several long-time key research staff members, flew research flights into a number of notable hurricanes of that decade, including

Hurricane Opal Hurricane Opal was a large and powerful Category 4 hurricane that caused severe and extensive damage along the northern Gulf Coast of the United States in October 1995. The fifteenth named storm, ninth hurricane and strongest tropical cyclon ...

(1995) and

Hurricane Georges Hurricane Georges () was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde Category 4 hurricane which caused severe destruction as it traversed the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in September 1998, making eight landfalls along its path. Georges was the seve ...

(1998). During the disastrous

2005 Atlantic hurricane season The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in history, until the record was broken 15 years later in 2020. The season broke numerous records at the time, with 28 tropical or subtropical storms recorded. ...

, the HRD staff flew ongoing missions into infamous

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, which provided invaluable data that continues to be studied at their Miami facility. Every hurricane season, HRD carries out an annual field program during which it collects information on tropical cyclones (especially Atlantic hurricanes) in order to improve scientific understanding of their formation, structure, and dynamics. Data is collected from satellites, land-based radar, wind towers, and from aircraft. They archive flight information from Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters, and plan and participate in research flights on NOAA's

Aircraft Operations Center The Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) is the main base for the approximately nine aircraft of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government. It is the home of the NOAA Hurricane Hunters. The NOAA Aircraft Op ...

planes. The present fleet consists of two Orion P-3 four-engine turboprops, which can fly directly into the eye of hurricanes, and a Gulfstream IV high-altitude jet, which is used to fly around tropical cyclones, dropping instrument packages called

dropsonde A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), designed to be dropped from an aircraft at altitude over water to measure (and therefore track) storm conditions as the devi ...

s. When not engaged in field operations, HRD scientists and computer programmers process and interpret the information they have gathered. They also work on theoretical studies and produce computer simulations of tropical cyclones and tropical weather. In this work, they collaborate with scientists from many other government and academic institutions from around the globe. The results of their research are presented at conferences and published in the scientific literature.

External links

HRD homepageAOML homepage
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NOAA homepage
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