With the AMS celebrating 100 years, it is a great opportunity to pause and reflect upon the role of aircraft as a vital component of modern meteorological observations. Ever since Lieutenant Colonel Joe Duckworth, on a dare, flew his AT-6 Texan into a hurricane off the coast of Galveston on July 27, 1943, aircraft reconnaissance has come to be an essential component in operational forecasting of hurricanes. Today, tropical cyclone reconnaissance and research missions are flown by the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, USAF Reserves, NCAR, NASA, NRL and a host of agencies from partner nations. Airborne research has expanded over the years to encompass all aspects of meteorology and oceanography. This session will take a look at notable past milestones and achievements but the focus will be on the present and future.

Today, a variety of emerging technologies fly aboard reconnaissance aircraft. Both the USAF and NOAA are looking deeper into the future toward ultimately replacing the WC-130J and WP-3D fleet. The NOAA AOC eagerly awaits the delivery and instrumentation of a next generation Gulfstream 550 high altitude jet in the next couple of years that will have the ability to reach up to the 100 millibar level. The NASA / NOAA Global Hawk has already proven to be a success as a platform with virtually unlimited future research possibilities. The sky is the limit when it comes to future research applications for both manned and unmanned systems. 

We propose a session where a variety of agencies are given the opportunity to discuss their present and future systems in the hopes of ensuring attendees from all sub-disciplines within Meteorology are aware of their respective capabilities and plans.

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