AR Recon WY2025 Operations Update

December 20, 2024

A pallet of three weather buoys parachutes to the Pacific Ocean after being released by the Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters Dec. 15, 2021. Credit: (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo)

In support of AR Recon, CW3E, in collaboration with the NOAA-funded Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Global Drifter Program continues to enhance our understanding of atmospheric pressure at the ocean’s surface. This year, satellite-tracked drifters, equipped with barometers, are again being deployed in the North Pacific during the AR Recon season. We utilize two types of drifting buoys: Directional Wave Spectra-Barometer (DWS-B) and Surface Velocity Program – Barometer (SVP-B). The DWS-B buoys, which are un-drogued, provide valuable information on wave spectra, while the drogued SVP-B buoys measure near-surface ocean currents at a depth of 15 meters. Both types deliver critical data on sea-surface temperature and sea-level pressure, essential for numerical weather predictions and climate studies in this data-sparse region. These buoys are meant to increase sampling density in regions in the North Pacific that experience the highest number of Atmospheric River (AR) days annually and are frequently associated with high pressure gradients.

Already this year, the USAF 53rd WRS has conducted two drifter deployment flights, the first on December 7th and the second on December 13th, releasing a total of 30 new drifters. These new buoys join 345 drifters deployed as part of AR Recon since its founding. Additionally, during the second buoy deployment mission, the 53rd WRS was also able to deploy 14 dropsondes over an AR event that brought significant impacts to the Bay Area on Saturday December 14th.

These AR Recon observations and buoy deployments have been shown to improve forecasts, and targeted deployments are coordinated annually in collaboration between CW3E, NOAA, and the US Air Force. More information on AR Recon, our data collection efforts this season, as well as our plans for the rest of 2025 can be found in this recent press release.

(Deployments marked by cyan symbols at approximately 40N and 140W-160W): Drifting buoy locations in the northeast Pacific, with those released during AR Recon 2023 shown in purple. SLP: Sea Level Pressure. SVP-B: Surface Velocity Program – Barometer. DWS – B: Directional Wave Spectra Barometer. Graphic courtesy of B. Kawzenuk, CW3E.