Airborne Radar Instrumentation for the Hurricane Hunter Aircraft

Since 2020, Tomorrow.io has supported instrument and algorithm development for the Ka-band Interferometric Altimeter (KaIA) system that flies aboard the NOAA P3 Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Data collected during the flights provide near-real-time significant wave height (SWH) data to key decision makers at NOAA. Recently, KaIA was updated to include a fanbeam antenna to support the development of Ka-band geophysical model functions (GMFs) to extract ocean surface wind (OSW) parameters. KaIA successfully flew during the 2023 Ocean Winter Winds (2023 OWW) experiment and will fly during the 2024 Hurricane Field Program (2024HFP) later this year.

In addition to the KaIA system modifications, Tomorrow.io is developing a new, conically scanning Ka-band airborne radar system (ARCoS) for use on the NOAA P3 aircraft during the 2024HFP. ARCoS will be capable of obtaining 3-D wind and precipitation profiles, as well as ocean surface vector winds (OSVW). The system will directly aid in the calibration and validation of other in-situ instrumentation, as well as current operational spaceborne scatterometers and altimeters systems, including the Tomorrow.io precipitation radar constellation.

This presentation will provide an overview of the Tomorrow.io airborne instrumentation and provide results from the data collected during the 2023OWW experiment. Preliminary data from the 2024HFP will also be discussed.