When awarded the NOAA Hollings Scholarship, students spend a summer working on a topic related to the wide-ranging scientific expertise of NOAA, from fisheries to the atmosphere. For Michael Han, a SAFS undergrad in his junior year, he’ll be joining the NOAA Hurricane Hunters, based in Silver Spring, MD, to take data from notable past missions and present them in a visualized format on NOAA’s Science on a Sphere display.
A hurricane is a type of storm called a tropical cyclone, which forms over tropical or subtropical waters. When a storm’s maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph, it becomes a hurricane. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center predicts and tracks these storm systems, which occur roughly 12 times a year in the Atlantic basin. Labeled typhoons when located in the Northwest Pacific, both hurricanes and typhoons are the same weather phenomenon: a tropical cyclone.
Located in NOAA’s HQ, the Science on a Sphere display is a room-sized globe which shows real time data to project a view of the Earth’s present and past conditions in an engaging way for educational purposes during presentations and tours of NOAA. Displaying big atmospheric events such as hurricanes, or day-to-day real-time information on ocean temperatures and cloud layers, these displays are also found in other museums and institutions.
By flying directly into some of the world’s worst weather – such as hurricanes – NOAA pilots fly planes which act as high-flying meteorological stations, collecting data which help forecasters make more accurate predictions and gain a deeper understanding of the processes at play during a hurricane. “I chose this internship because it was the perfect intersection between aviation and science!” Michael shared. “Outside of SAFS, I attend flight school and this internship with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters gives me the opportunity to combine the love I have for flying and the natural world.”
Michael’s internship will involve visualizing a flight track of Hurricane Hunter missions onto the Science on a Sphere display using a tool called Tableau, in order to highlight the importance of these planes, the data they provide, and depict where the information behind hurricane predictions come from. By feeding data directly into the Science on Sphere display, this also serves an outreach purpose to increase awareness of the vital work of Hurricane Hunters.
During his internship, Michael may also get to be on board one of the flights into a hurricane. “The data visualization is absolutely cool but what I’m most looking forward to is having the chance to fly,” Michael said. “Depending on weather conditions and logistics I may be able to ride along with the Hurricane Hunters and experience what it feels like to be inside of a hurricane or join some of the other aviation operations they conduct such as snowpack monitoring and marine mammal surveys.”
Learning at SAFS opens up a wide array of opportunities for undergraduates in their future careers, whatever direction that may take them. “I hope to join NOAA Corps one day so this internship will give me an inside look at how the operation is run and if it’s the right career choice for me,” Michael said. “Without SAFS, I never would have heard about this internship or been able to apply. The broad range of biology and science topics I was exposed to always encouraged me to be curious about the natural world – whether it be fish or hurricanes.”
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- Michael operates a plane as part of his flight school training.
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- Flying towards the mountain!
