Innovation in History: Impact and Change: The Airplane

Meteorology

The airplane improved the ability for high altitude science and meteorology. Before airplanes were used for high altitude science, blimps and balloons had to be used, limiting the speed of travel and the weather conditions that tests could be taken in. Airplanes are used to fly into hurricanes, tropical storms, and other extreme weather to collect crucial data to determine whether the storm is dangerous or not, so that warnings can be issued for areas of possible storm impact. 

The NOAA Hurricane Hunter

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"Specially equipped NOAA aircraft play an integral role in hurricane forecasting. Data collected during hurricanes by these high-flying meteorological stations and from a variety of other sources are fed into 
numerical computer models to help forecasters predict how intense a hurricane will be, and when and where it will make landfall. These computer models fulfill two important purposes: to help forecasters make accurate predictions during a hurricane; and to help hurricane researchers achieve a better understanding of storm processes, thereby improving their forecast models." - NOAA


Left: the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Hurricane Hunter aircraft.