Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Jeff Wilkerson, July 6, 2018
Nebraska researchers use drones to study thunderstorms
Nebraska’s Adam Houston, an associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, is part of a team using mobile mesonets and unmanned aerial vehicles to study thunderstorms. Drones are outfitted with sensors to measure wind, temperature, pressure and moisture. The ground-based vehicles help researchers obtain a “stacked tower” of data by collecting information near the ground and above the ground. In July, Nebraska will collaborate with the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the University of Kentucky to sample an area of Colorado with 30 drones to learn how the atmosphere interacts with the land to support the formation of thunderstorms.
See more pictures of the mobile mesonets on Nebraska Research’s Instagram channel.
