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How Drones Help Storm Chasers
Drones allow storm chasers to get closer to the epicenter of a storm. For example, a drone may be able to investigate a supercell thunderstorm that has radar-indicated rotation. The drone may have instruments on it that allow it to collect wind speed, wind direction, altitude, and barometric pressure information. This would be helpful to amateur as well as professional meteorologists who are trying to learn about why some supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes and others do not.
Ways Storm Chasers Use Drones
Storm chasers use drones in several ways. They may do an aerial survey after a storm has passed. The drone captures footage of damage from above. This footage could show amateur and professional meteorologists about the wind direction, wind speed, path, and extent of storm damage in an area that might be impassable due to debris on the roads. Storm chasers may also use drones in order to measure the air pressure at a particular altitude. They may collect drone information in order to determine if a cloud has rotation or if a funnel is developing. This information could be relayed to emergency management officials who have the authority to issue a storm warning to the public.
Laws and Regulations of Drones for Storm Chasing
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, drones present a hazard to manned aircraft. There have been crashes between drones and manned aircraft that lead to extensive property damage and injuries. For these reasons, there are federal regulations on the use of drones. Any amateur scientist who wants to fly a drone into a storm will need to exercise great caution, especially if they are in the vicinity of an airport or military base.
The Future of Drones in Storm Chasing
The technology in use in drones and smartphones is rapidly evolving. In the future, storm chasers may use drones to travel several miles ahead of their vehicles. This would allow the storm chasers to remain in a safe place so that they do not get injured by lightning, hail or winds in a severe thunderstorm or tornado. Drones in the future might also have the capacity to use infrared imaging in order to locate survivors who are buried under debris in the aftermath of a tornado. Because drones can be programmed and are able to travel in any direction, they may replace weather balloons in the future. Instead of hoping that a weather balloon is launched in the right place at the right time, drones could be directed to the storm.
The use of drones for research is growing in popularity. The affordability of drones and their compatibility with smartphones make them a good investment for amateurs. Professional meteorologists and others who wonder, “Do storm chasers use drones?” could learn a lot from the information that these amateur scientists collect.