If you've ever wondered what the inside of a Category 4 hurricane looked like, wonder no more. A floating unmanned vessel caught video from inside a storm that will leave those who get seasick feeling queasy.
The footage was shot by the Saildrone Explorer SD 1045. The drone was part of a joint partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the company Saildrone, Vice reported.
The drone captured the 50 plus foot waves and 120 plus mph winds as it whipped through the storm.
A press release from NOAA shared that it was "the first video footage gathered by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside a major hurricane."
The founder and CEO of Saildrone, Richard Jenkins, shared with Vice that the "first" was not merely that the vessel capturing footage was crewless, but also that the footage was captured inside the eyewall.
"While some footage may exist from ships that were 'near' a hurricane," Jenkins said to Vice. "We are not aware of any other footage recorded from the eyewall of a hurricane at the ocean surface."
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NOAA and Saildrone usually work on sensors for scientific research, according to NOAA Research director of public affairs Monica Allen. The two companies have worked on collecting carbon dioxide measurements and other information across the globe's oceans.
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As for the drone that caught footage of the hurricane's eyewall, Jenkins said their standard drones can operate in 51 mph winds, almost a third of what the stronger and smaller Saildrone vessel endured.
Jenkins shared that the vessel's hull was reinforced and the hatch reconfigured so it would survive in the dangerous conditions.
NOAA hopes that the data it collected will help experts understand the "underlying physics" inside a hurricane, Dr. Gregory Foltz of NOAA said to Vice.
The goal would be to help improve forecast models so that predictions for future hurricanes can be more accurate, possibly saving lives and property.
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