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In 2014, NASA sent its Global Hawk aircraft

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out over the ocean to study Hurricane Edouard.

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This remotely piloted vehicle collects data

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like temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed,

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to better understand how hurricanes intensify.  

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Sometimes clouds block the measurements 

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taken directly below the aircraft,

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so the scientists drop individual instruments

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that parachute down to the surface.  

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These dropsondes also measure the windspeed and direction as they fall.

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Near the surface, especially in the center of the storm,

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the deep red to orange color indicates there is plenty of moisture

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for the storm to draw on to intensify.

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The result is a well-defined circulation of winds,

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which are strongest near the storm's center.

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During Hurricane Edouard, dry air near the center slowed intensification.

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But then, just before a period of rapid intensification,

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clouds and precipitation moved into the dry region, bringing moisture.

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Did the movement of moisture cause the rapid intensification,

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or did the stronger winds at the onset of intensification

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cause the clouds and precipitation to move? 

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Studies like this one will help us learn that answer.

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[ beeping ]

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