Self-driving boat records 15m high waves in the eye of the storm

The autonomous ship SD 1078 entered Hurricane Fiona in the Atlantic, battling fierce winds and waves to collect valuable scientific data .

SD 1078 , a self-driving boat operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US company Saildrone, recorded the scene taking place inside Hurricane Fiona, a storm that formed in the Atlantic Ocean and made landfall in Puerto Rico last week, Interesting Engineering reported on September 26.

The footage captured by SD 1078 shows the boat battling waves up to 15m high and winds of more than 160km/h to collect vital scientific data, providing unique images of one of the most destructive phenomena on Earth - hurricanes.

Inside Storm Fiona, SD 1078 moved at a steady speed of over 14km/h. It even reached a maximum speed of 63.9km/h, before swooping down in a large wave 17m high.

SD 1078 is one of seven autonomous hurricane research vessels operating in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico this season, collecting data around the clock to help scientists understand the physical processes of hurricanes. The data collected by the autonomous vessels could significantly improve forecasting, reducing loss of life by helping coastal communities better prepare.

The boat battled waves up to 15m high and winds of more than 160km/h.

The autonomous boat SD 1078 will provide live data to NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Saildrone's partners on the mission.

'Saildrone has once again demonstrated its ability to provide critical ocean data in the most extreme weather conditions. The data Saildrone's vehicles are collecting will help the scientific community better understand the rapid intensification of storms, giving coastal communities more time to prepare,' said Richard Jenkins, founder and CEO of Saildrone.

Strong storms are becoming more common. 'The frequency of rapidly intensifying storms has increased over the past four decades, and this increase is linked to climate change,' explains Jim Kossin, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA.