Remote controlled sailboats will help monitor the tropical ocean "cold pools"

Atmospheric and oceanic researchers know that conditions in the tropical ocean affect climate patterns around the world. Two well-known examples of patterns that begin in the tropical climate and the impact on global climate patterns are the child and the girl. However, although these two climatic conditions are well known and published, scientists believe that there are other key elements in the tropical climate that affect global climatic conditions that are not discovered.

A recent study of scientists at the University of Washington and the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory used remotely piloted sailboats to collect data on a phenomenon known as cold air groups. The cold air pools are cooler air pockets from the tropical storm clouds under the tropical storms, which flow out under the intense thunderstorms that can alter the surrounding environment.

These so-called cold swimming pools are a key source of variability for surface and wind temperatures and moisture over the ocean. The study is one of the first documents that focus on the tropical Pacific to rely on the data from the sailboats piloted remotely called saildrons. These drones are driven by the wind that use a high and rigid eave along with scientific instruments with solar energy. Its design allows you to travel long distances and stay in the environment for extended time frames.

Researchers have discovered that the cold atmospheric pool can produce dramatic changes in air temperature and wind speed near the surface of the tropical ocean. The pockets of the colder air shape as rain evaporates below the electrical storm clouds. This creates relatively dense air masses that vary between six and 125 miles wide and leads to drops that affect the surface of the ocean and produce temperature fronts and strong winds that affect the environment.

Researchers admit that exactly the phenomenon affects the largest atmospheric circulation at this time. Previous studies showed that cold swimming pools are important to trigger and organize the activity of the storm over the tropical ocean regions. Researchers say that to understand the role played by cold groups in the tropical climate cycle, they need more measurements of events, but events are difficult to witness as they occur. The sailboats piloted will remotely help provide the necessary data. Drones allow observations to be collected through oceanic regions of difficult access and underlined by prolonged periods.