3 more Saildrones launched from Newport to help with climate research, weather forecasts – WPRI.com

NEWPORT, R.I. (WPRI) Three new Saildrones left Newport Harbor on Thursday, headed into the Atlantic to take important measurements to learn more about climate change and improve weather forecasting.

A Saildrone is an autonomous surface vehicle. Its actually powered by the wind and the sun, and it can spend up to 365 days at sea, explained Susan Ryan, Saildrones vice president of marketing.

3 more of these autonomous SailDrones were launched today from Newportheaded to the Gulf Stream to take important ocean measurements. pic.twitter.com/eRNGuqQ8Ib

The 23-foot, bright orange vessels have an array of instruments to measure ocean and atmospheric data for the University of Rhode Island.

Its really exciting to get three Saildrones to go out into the Gulf Stream, said Jamie Palter, an oceanography professor at URI.

The Gulf Stream is a river of warm water in the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast of the United States. It can impact the weather and climate in the U.S. and Europe.

Getting data from there is quite challenging, however.

Ill be looking mostly at the carbon data that will allow us how to understand how the ocean is soaking up some of the atmospheric carbon, Palter told 12 News Meteorologist T.J. Del Santo.

Palter said theres some uncertainty about how much carbon the oceans absorb from the atmosphere, but her team is excited to learn more about that interaction.

URIs 53-foot ocean trawler, the Capn Burt, took media members, scientists and guests into Narragansett Bay to watch the Saildrones depart on their journey. One by one, the three vessels were towed out of Newport Harbor into Narragansett Bay, passing in front of the iconic Newport Bridge where they were released on the sunny but calm day.

We do anticipate theyll experience extremely rough weather, Palter added.

While on the high seas, the drones will also provide the position of the Gulf Stream, which will benefit the European computer model (ECMWF) and help improve weather forecasts.

I need all that data, too, to understand the air-sea carbon exchange, and together we can do both of these projects with a single platform, Palter said.

This Saildrone mission was funded by Google.org, the companys philanthropic arm.

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3 more Saildrones launched from Newport to help with climate research, weather forecasts - WPRI.com