Noise used to learn hurricane power
Noise used to learn hurricane power
2008-04-14Newsfeed
Listening to hurricanes from the ocean depths could be a cost effective way to predict how powerful they are, according to scientists.
Listening to hurricanes from the ocean depths could be a cost effective way to predict how powerful they are, according to scientists.
The current means of measuring the strength of a hurricane is by sending specialised £50m aircraft into the eye of the storm - at the cost of about £25,000 a flight.
Monitoring an approaching hurricane might require a dozen flights.
New research suggests a better way to calculate the power of a hurricane, or tropical cyclone, could be to listen to the noise it makes as it passes over the ocean.
The sound caused by the storm churning up the water in its path could be used to gauge the strength of the wind.
Evidence that the idea works emerged when scientists discovered a hurricane which had been recorded by a hydrophone, an underwater microphone, in 1999.
Dr Nicholas Makris, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Laboratory for Undersea Remote Sensing, said: "There was almost a perfect relationship between the power of the wind and the power of the wind-generated noise. There was less than 5% error, about the same as the errors you get from aircraft measurements."
Copyright © The Press Association 2008
