The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is temporarily stationing its newest high-altitude jet in Hawaii. When severe weather hits, getting an early and accurate forecast can save lives. NOAA's G-IV jet will be launching capsules called dropsondes. As the dropsondes travel earthwards through the atmosphere, they take measurements and send the data back to the aircraft's data-loggers. NOAA's task is to monitor the north Pacific, measuring the development and progress of significant winter storms and hurricanes that can eventually hit the US mainland.

"The technology allows these instruments, as they go down through the atmosphere, to report back temperature, pressure, humidity, and then they use the GPS module onboard to give us horizontal wind direction and wind speed," said NOAA project manager Jack Parrish. "Our GIV jet will also be flying through the Pacific jet stream to measure the depletion of the ozone layer".