Ocean-Atmosphere Observations from Uncrewed Saildrones and Gliders during the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season

During the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, uncrewed systems were used in an innovative and coordinated effort to measure the upper ocean and air-sea interface inside and outside of tropical cyclones. The main objectives were to advance understanding of air-sea interactions in and around tropical cyclones and aid forecaster situational awareness, with the ultimate goal of improving tropical cyclone intensity forecasts. The uncrewed systems included seven saildrones and five underwater gliders that operated in the western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Nearly collocated and simultaneous measurements were acquired by an underwater glider and saildrone through the eye of Hurricane Fiona south of Puerto Rico in September. Another saildrone was directed through Fiona after it had intensified to a Category 4 Hurricane in the North Atlantic, measuring sustained winds of 35 m/s and significant wave height of 15 m. Two other saildrones obtained measurements in Fiona when it was a tropical storm east of the Caribbean and as a Category 1 hurricane north of Puerto Rico. Later in September, after Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida and then re-intensified to a hurricane east of Florida, a saildrone was directed through its center, measuring winds of 29 m/s and an air-sea temperature difference of 8 deg. C near the Gulf Stream. This presentation gives an overview of the 2022 effort and the data acquired, discusses challenges and lessons learned, and looks toward the future of uncrewed systems observations in tropical cyclones.