What Type of Equipment Is Used to Record Measurements for Hurricanes?
Meteorologists and hurricane scientists use both traditional weather equipment and highly sophisticated electronic instruments to measure and record hurricane data.Hurricane FeaturesWind speed, barometric pressure and storm surge (the abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane), which determine how hurricane intensity is rated on the Saffir/Simpson 1-to-5 scale, are among a hurricane’s key features for measurement and recording.Traditional InstrumentsAtmospheric pressure is measured by aneroid barometers and recorded on barographs (barometer-controlled pens writing on a rotating drum). Anemometers (consisting of three or four mounted wind-driven cups that spin on an axis at varying rates) measure wind speed.Recording Wind Speeds RemotelyHurricane wind speeds can sometimes be measured and recorded remotely using stepped-frequency microwave radiometers (SFMR), which are carried on National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Hunter aircraft.DropsondesSo
