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Researchers from ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· recently spent four weeks flyingÌýdrones off the coast of Barbados in hopesÌýof advancing understanding and prediction of U.S. weather and climate.

Project ATOMIC – or Atlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction CampaignÌý– is a partnership between ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ·,Ìýby the NOAA Climate Program OfficeÌý, ±·°¿´¡´¡Ìý, as well as the NOAA Earth System Research Lab’sÌý, the Barbados Coastguard,ÌýNOAA's research shipÌýRonald H. BrownÌýand WP-3D Orion "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft, and on land, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation.ÌýFunding cameÌýfrom NOAA to conduct the research.ÌýThe goal of the project isÌýto collect data to improve the predictions of the climate off the coast of the ocean. The goal is to gather data on the clouds and land-sea interaction where the trade winds and ocean come together, in the tropics of the NorthÌýAtlantic, east of Barbados.

Fieldwork ranÌýfrom January 20 through February 17Ìýand covered the North East side of Morgan Lewis Beach. The list of equipment for the project includes threeÌýunmanned aircraft systems known as the RAAVEN, 1 spare parts box, a launch kit that consisted of aÌýrapidÌýcatapultÌýand a bungee flat rail system. TheÌý2020 CU team includedÌýthreeÌýstaff members, Steve Borenstein, Chris Choate, Michael Rhodes;Ìýtwo scientists, Gijs de Boer andÌýRadiance Clamer; andÌýJonathan Hamilton a graduate student with RECUV.

The CU team was tasked with having three fully-equipped aircraft ready to fly in Barbados in one of the busiest holiday-packed months of the year. Our team navigated the skies through launching and directing the aircraft system down the coast andÌýover the ocean to collect data that willÌýfurther our knowledge of the ocean climate's shifting environment.ÌýÌý

CU’s portion of the project is led by staff from the College of Engineering and Applied Science through the Integrated Remote and In Situ Sensing initiative. The team is responsible for piloting the three drones around the coast to measure temperature, turbulence, humidity and wind speeds. This was done through our IR sensors as well as a fine wire system with the help of our camera mounted to the drone to ensure that the operation ran smoothly. Drones are a critical component of the project because they sense data from inside the clouds – data that cannot be obtained without physically being there to take the measurements.

Research Gijs de Boer said, “The RAAVENs deployed during ATOMIC offer us unique perspectives on the atmospheric boundary layer over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. ÌýHaving the ability to sample this key part of the atmosphere in detail using these robust and slow-moving platforms should offer revolutionary insight into the factors governing cloud cover in this climatically-important region of the Earth."Ìý