Research in Cape Verde helps improve Atlantic hurricane forecasting

Cape Verde is welcoming British technicians this month to improve forecasts for storms that originate near the archipelago and then cross the Atlantic, causing havoc in the Caribbean and the Americas, the National Institute of Meteorology has announced.

The goal is to “intercept developing tropical storms as they form and move,” the agency said in a statement.

One of the biggest uncertainties in the forecasts released this Tuesday “lies in the lack of meteorological observations in remote areas,” such as areas in the middle of the ocean, a scenario in which the location of Cape Verde becomes relevant.

The team, based at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory on the island of Sao Vicente, intends to launch up to seven balloons that will carry about 25 small biodegradable probes over an observing period of two to four weeks.

The balloons can be controlled all the way to the upper atmosphere (more than 20,000 meters above sea level), where they release microprobes that then fall and take measurements (temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.), the data of which is transmitted every second by radio. , for scientists on land.

“The goal is to launch every day, at the quietest time of day,” usually at dawn.

Each low-cost high-altitude balloon (HAB) can be controlled remotely and launch a swarm of microprobes from remote locations over several days.

“This will lead to reliable and accurate observations with high vertical resolution of remote areas of the globe” in addition to the horizontal resolution produced by satellites in Earth orbit, the technical note explains.

There will be days when some weather balloons will be launched in pairs, two to three hours apart.

“The launches, duly authorized by the Civil Aviation Agency (AAC), will be carried out in coordination with the technical specialists of the Airports and Air Security (ASA) company at the tower of the Cesaria Évora International Airport,” it concluded.