AF agency helps track Isabel

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Miles Brown
  • Air Force Weather Agency Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFPN) --  Since Sept. 6, Air Force Weather Agency officials here have been tracking a tropical storm, now known as Hurricane Isabel.

Isabel's initial formation, like most tropical storms, was not spotted by land or ship observations. Satellite analysts identified the telltale signs more than 2,500 miles from the United States.

Even though Isabel would gain strength and at one point be listed as a Category 5 hurricane, tracking its movements was business as usual for the agency’s satellite analysts.

Isabel is the 13th tropical system in the Atlantic tracked since late April, and the 79th system worldwide identified or tracked this year, according to Jenifer Piatt, a meteorologist in the agency’s satellite applications branch.

“This system formed about 1,000 miles off the coast of Africa and gave us plenty of time to determine its possible track and danger potential once it got in range of populated areas," she said.

She also said that spotting storms like Isabel early can make a difference between having several hours or several days to prepare and that sometimes even a few more hours can save thousands of lives.

The agency’s meteorological satellite applications branch is one of only three national weather centers that identify, track and forecast the paths of all tropical storms forming in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

“We work with the (National Weather Service's) National Hurricane Center in Miami and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C., to pin-point the location and intensity of forming tropical cyclones,” said Charles Holiday, the branch chief.

Experts at the three satellite analysis centers complete all their individual analyses and build a consensus observation of the storm’s location and intensity. Additionally, Air Force satellite data is used to produce long-range forecasts for the storm’s projected path and intensity. This is another tool hurricane center officials used in predicting Isabel’s possible impact, Holiday said.

It is the center’s long-range forecasts that prompt storm warnings and watches. These warnings give both military and civilian agencies valuable time to prepare and safeguard their people and communities, officials said.

Satellite analysts find and track the exact center of rotation and areas of hurricane/tropical storm force winds when one of these potentially deadly storms is brewing at sea. Their analyses helped predict the initial and long-range path of Isabel for several days after the tropical storm became a hurricane, officials said.

In Isabel's case, weather agency meteorologists said they used every tool available and started to compile all the data from the inception of the hurricane.

“When we get 12 hours of thunderstorm activity with a low-level circulation center, we start analyzing the system as a tropical disturbance,” said Piatt.

The branch meteorologists said they use several satellite products including visual, infrared and microwave images to fix the position and estimate the wind speeds every six hours after a storm has been spotted.

These satellite images and observations are not only available to the hurricane center. Department of Defense weather specialists around the globe have access to the data through the Joint Air Force and Army Weather Information Network on the Internet. Combat weather teams anywhere near the projected storm path have the most current satellite images from both military and civilian spacecraft to keep their installation commanders and decision makers informed on the storm’s size, location and potential effects, officials said.