Flying into the eye of the storm: How hurricane hunters collect data

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Hurricane Hunters have been busy the last few weeks with tropical weather. And if you've ever wondered how they collect their data, here's a look into the process.

When hurricane hunters fly into a tropical system, they don’t just rely on radar and satellite data. They drop tiny weather labs called dropsondes straight into the storm. A dropsonde is a small, tube-shaped instrument attached to a parachute. As it falls from the aircraft, it beams back real-time data multiple times per second, creating a vertical “X-ray” of the atmosphere from flight level down to the ocean’s surface.

Each dropsonde measures pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. This high-resolution data provides insight into the storm’s structure, from the eye to the outer rainband