NASA, University of Michigan start work on hurricane tracking satellite network

NASA and the University of Michigan have started work on a new satellite network to help scientists examine hurricanes' inner core from space and forecast storm intensity changes.

According to the agency, the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission would deploy an eight-microsatellite constellation and leverage existing direct and reflected GPS satellite signals to measure the speed of ocean surface winds.

The development follows the agency's completion of two key assessments on the hurricane-monitoring satellite program earlier this summer.

''These reviews were a major milestone for CYGNSS, marking the end of the detailed design and planning stages of the mission and the beginning of flight hardware assembly,'' said Chris Ruf,  professor, Atmospheric Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Michigan.

The construction and testing of the microsatellites would be supported by The Southwest Research Institute at a San Antonio facility. It would also host a mission operations centre in Boulder, Colorado.

NASA plans to use an Orbital ATK-built Pegasus XL rocket to send CYGNSS to low-earth orbit in late 2016.

With CYGNSS, NASA would be able to eliminate much of the uncertainty in predicting the paths of hurricanes and other giant storms.

The flock of eight microsatellites would be able to track hurricanes more effectively than any one full-size craft could manage.

These would be the first satellites to get a ''core-view'' of storms giving them a more accurate idea of the wind speeds as also the path of the swirling air currents. They would also get updated images of the tropics in a matter of a few hours rather than a few days.

Meteorologists would therefore not be caught off-guard if a hurricane quickly gathered momentum or changed direction. According to commentators, with CYGNSS starting helping out during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season (between June and November), coastal residents would get a lot of help to prepare for natural disasters.