SOEST and Jonathan Merage Foundation partner to improve storm forecasting

Storm near the Jonathan Merage Research Ranch in Colorado.

The Jonathan Merage Foundation has embarked on a long-term partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) to explore how long-range lightning data can potentially improve storm forecasting.

“Through the ingest of lightning and storm balloon data, this project aims to increase our ability to map water vapor and heat associated with condensation of water in hurricane storm clouds in the core of the storm,” said Professor Steven Businger, chair of the SOEST Atmospheric Sciences Department and project lead. “In the process, details of the initial storm circulation in the hurricane model will be improved.”

The project began this summer in Colorado with the launch of the first storm balloon. The balloons for this experiment were produced in collaboration with Smith & Williamson, an engineering firm specializing in developing custom prototypes for atmospheric and oceanographic exploration.

“It was a picture perfect first release,” said Businger.

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