Flying into the eye of the storm

09 Dec 2011 University of Manchester scientists flew into the middle of the violent storms battering Scotland yesterday to measure the huge impact of the winds. Atmospheric scientist Keith Bower was on the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft, while Professor Geraint Vaughan was monitoring measurements from the ground. Both are part of the DIAMET project, a consortium led by The University of Manchester , the Natural Environment Research Council and the Met Office to look at ways of continually improving the ability to forecast high-impact weather. The flight used specialist instruments to measure the winds, temperature and humidity, and cloud particles, in the eye of the storm. The aircraft is also able to drop small instrument packages through the storm to measure profiles of wind, temperature and humidity. The data from these instruments was relayed back to Exeter by satellite link and used in producing the next forecast. Yesterday it flew from Exeter north to Stornoway before sampling the south-west region of the storm, west of Scotland.