In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ophelia swept the U.S. coastline and sparked questions about whether a new natural disaster loomed.
Fortunately, UW-Madison is home to a graduate school research center aimed at helping answer these questions.
The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies is a research center that works with National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA to understand and analyze hurricanes and tropical storms.
\What we have is an agreement to collaborate on research that uses satellite observation to better understand the weather,"" said Steven Ackerman, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and director of the CIMSS.
The idea behind the technology being explored in Madison, and funded primarily through NOAH and NASA, is to better prepare forecasters and the general public for occurrences such as Hurricanes Katrina and Ophelia.
According to Chris Velden, a UW-Madison atmospheric researcher and the team leader of CIMSS, Hurricane Katrina was one the best forecasted storms in history. The information of the storm was known three days ahead of time and there was ample time to disseminate warnings.
""We can't make people evacuate. What broke down was the evacuation process and the resulting handling of the aftermath,"" Velden said.
CIMSS contributes information to other on-site data collecting technologies. Such technologies include ""hurricane hunter"" aircrafts that fly into the storm, buoys and oil platform measurements. This combined data helped to diminish Katrina's impact, and over a million and a half lives were saved.
Some UW Madison students will brave the residual effects of Ophelia this weekend.
UW Madison senior Ryan Sugden said he plans to drive to Chapel Hill, N.C., to watch the Badger football team play the University of North Carolina Tarheels, and is expecting a little rain along the way.
""I'm not terribly worried because it's only a class-one hurricane, but it's still a hurricane,"" Sugden stated.
Even though Sugden has never endured a hurricane before, he said he felt up for the challenge of facing the storm.
""It'll make for a different atmosphere, something I've never experienced,"" he said.
Although Sugden said he is prepared for a challenge, researchers said Ophelia is in very weak steering currents and will probably meander over the outer banks and out to the Atlantic Ocean.
As for what CIMSS and researchers at UW-Madison are hoping to accomplish in the future, Velden said, he expects to see improvements.
""As our techniques get better and our models get better that combination should lead to better forecasts.\
