WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.050
When it comes to hurricanes, research has come a long

2
00:00:04.070 --> 00:00:08.110
way to help predict when and where a storm will hit.

3
00:00:08.130 --> 00:00:12.160
Forecasting intensity is a much bigger challenge, and

4
00:00:12.180 --> 00:00:16.210
an instrument called HIWRAP will investigate the strength of a storm.

5
00:00:16.230 --> 00:00:20.250
The HIWRAP instrument will fly aboard an aircraft to study storms

6
00:00:20.270 --> 00:00:24.280
from the very large down to the very small scale.
Braun: And because those smaller

7
00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:28.330
scales tend to be much chaotic and difficult to predict,

8
00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:32.350
and the interactions between those smaller scales and the large scales is far more

9
00:00:32.370 --> 00:00:36.350
complex, it makes it a huge challenge to try to

10
00:00:36.370 --> 00:00:40.410
improve intensity forecasts.
The High-Altitude Imaging

11
00:00:40.430 --> 00:00:44.500
Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler, or HIWRAP, is a

12
00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:48.560
radar designed to examine the factors of storm intensity.

13
00:00:48.580 --> 00:00:52.610
Braun: The HIWRAP Doppler radar is a dual-frequency radar, so it has two frequencies

14
00:00:52.630 --> 00:00:56.650
that measure at two different angles and as the plane is

15
00:00:56.670 --> 00:01:00.700
flying, it's sort of scanning in a cone.

16
00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:04.730
And as it's flying over a particular target--say, the eyewall of a storm--by scanning

17
00:01:04.750 --> 00:01:08.750
in a cone it looks first one way, and then sees the storm from a different direction.

18
00:01:08.770 --> 00:01:12.760
And that's what allows us then to measure the three-dimensional

19
00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:16.850
winds and precipitation within the storm.
Because the storm and the aircraft

20
00:01:16.870 --> 00:01:20.920
are both moving, the HIWRAP must send out 5,000 pulses

21
00:01:20.940 --> 00:01:24.980
a second to get an accurate read on precipitation particles,

22
00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:29.040
like rain or ice. The signals that bounce back reveal the type,

23
00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:33.090
size, and distribution of rain or ice particles, as well as

24
00:01:33.110 --> 00:01:37.130
how fast the particles are moving. The speed of the particles can help determine

25
00:01:37.150 --> 00:01:41.160
the wind and circulation in a storm. HIWRAP will provide

26
00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:45.210
scientists with years of unprecedented data that will allow them to

27
00:01:45.230 --> 00:01:49.220
decipher the formation, structure, and intensification

28
00:01:49.240 --> 00:01:53.300
of hurricanes.

29
00:01:53.320 --> 00:01:57.380


30
00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:01.440


31
00:02:01.460 --> 00:02:05.450


32
00:02:05.470 --> 00:02:05.472