Hurricane Tracking Goes Unmanned

Two Global Hawk drones operating from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will track and study hurricanes from 60,000 feet. (NASA)

Tropical Storm Frank as seen by a NASA Global Hawk drone in 2010. NASA is moving its drones to Virginia from California to be closer to the Atlantic hurricanes. (NASA)

NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pilots remotely control Global Hawk drones to fly over hurricanes. (NASA)

NOAA hopes to eventually maneuver strings of floating Water Glider robots into the paths of hurricanes. (NOAA)

NOAA's Water Glider robots can maneuver into the paths of hurricanes and take measurements above and below the surface of the sea. (NOAA)

NOAA is experimenting with using EMILY unmanned water craft to study hurricanes at sea level. (Hydronalix)