NASA's Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) Field Experiment Bringing New Technologies to the Hurricane Intensity Problem

In August-September 2010, NASA, NOAA, and NSF conducted separate, but closely coordinated hurricane field campaigns bringing to bear a combined 7 aircraft with new and mature observing technologies. NASA's Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment, the subject of this article, along with NOAA's Intensity Forecast Experiment (IFEX) and NSF's PREDICT experiment, obtained unprecedented observations of the formation and intensification of several tropical cyclones. The goals of GRIP were to better understand the physical processes that control hurricane formation and intensity change, specifically the relative roles of environmental and inner-core processes. A major focus of GRIP was the application of new technologies to address these important scientific questions, including the first ever use of the unmanned Global Hawk aircraft for hurricane science operations. The tri-agency aircraft teamed up to perform coordinated flights for the genesis of Hurricane Karl and Tropical Storm Matthew and the non-development of the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston. NASA and NOAA conducted coordinated flights to thoroughly describe the rapid intensification (RI) of Hurricanes Earl and Karl. The combined GRIP/IFEX/PREDICT data sets, along with remote sensing data from a variety of satellite platforms (GOES, TRMM, Aqua, Terra, CloudSat, and CALIPSO), will contribute significantly to advancing understanding of hurricane formation and intensification. This article summarizes the GRIP experiment, the missions flown, and some preliminary findings.