For more information:

NATURE: Robot plane to probe storms

NASA to study lightning storms using high-flying, uninhabited vehicle

fe20826

Flying Florida's Thunderstorms

Hoping to learn more about lightning and thunderstorms, NASA has embarked on a new project, using unmanned aircraft to fly over storms as they form in the Everglades. By keeping the plane's pilots on the ground, the Cessna-sized craft can fly higher, slower and longer than conventional reconnaissance vehicles. Tony Kim is a NASA project manager...

Studying Florida's Lightning

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have made recent news as military reconnaissance tools. Similar craft are now being used for scientific study. NASA is using an unmanned plane to study lightning and thunderstorms that form over the Everglades...

Better Thunderstorm Prediction

A team of scientists from NASA is studying lightning and thunderstorms over the Everglades, in hopes of learning more about the quick-forming storms. To get a better look, they're using an unmanned aircraft to fly over the storms--which, unlike more conventional reconnaissance flights, can stay with the storms as they form and monitor them until they dissipate. Tony Kim is a NASA Project Manager...

The power of a thunderstorm holds great interest for scientists who want to learn more about lightning and how such storms form. And some newly available technology is enabling more research. NASA has been flying unmanned aircraft over storms that form in the Everglades, flying higher, slower and longer than previously possible, letting them watch an entire storm from beginning to end. And they're already learning from it...

Close Contact with Thunderstorms

NASA scientists are using unmanned aircraft to put them in closer touch with Florida's summer thunderstorms. This Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a close relative to the one used for military reconnaissance. NASA project Manager Tony Kim...