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1. Home
2. About
3. NOS Fiscal Year 2021 : Year in Review
4. General Hurricane Accomplishments

**General Hurricane Accomplishments** NOS Fiscal Year 2021 Year in Review Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS)  CO-OPS Issues Real-Time Observations, Enhances Dashboard CO-OPS issued 132 Storm QuickLooks for 16 storms and enhanced its Coastal Inundation Dashboard (CID).  CID is a web mapping application for monitoring elevated water level conditions  along the coast during storms. The new multistation  viewing feature allows users to query data for up to 20 water level  stations. CO-OPS compiled peak water level information and  provided it to the National Weather Service immediately following each storm. For the fourth year, CO-OPS communicated  real-time water level information on NOS social media during storms. Hurricane  Ida content was extremely popular, generating 62 times its normal distribution.  CO-OPS Establishes Temporary  Water Level Stations in Louisiana In Fiscal Year 2021, CO-OPS successfully established  two temporary water level stations in Louisiana after permanent stations were damaged by hurricanes. The  temporary stations will ensure continued collection and dissemination of real-time  oceanographic and meteorological data at those locations until more permanent  stations can be rebuilt. The Freshwater Canal Locks National Water Level  Observation Network station, damaged in 2020 by Hurricane Laura, was  reinstalled early in 2021. It was declared  operational just ahead of Hurricane Delta and successfully captured peak water  levels during that storm, which occurred only a week after installation. The Port Fourchon water level station  at Belle Pass, damaged in 2021 by Hurricane Ida, was reinstalled at the end of the year. Data collected at this station supports the Port Fourchon  Physical Oceanographic Real-time System (PORTS®). This CO-OPS StoryMap highlights the extent  of extreme water levels experienced during an active hurricane season.  The image on the left shows a hurricane-damaged water level station. The image to the right shows the rebuilt temporary station.*Port Fourchon, Louisiana: Hurricane-damaged water level station partially submerged in shallow water (left) and the rebuilt temporary installation affixed upright to the pier (right).*  National Geodetic Survey (NGS)  NGS Collects Emergency Response Imagery After Hurricane Delta In October 2020, NGS collected aerial damage assessment images in the aftermath ofHurricane Delta. NGS flight crews collected images in specific areas  identified by NOAA in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency  and other state and federal partners. The crew flew over more than 5,212 square  kilometers (2,012 square miles) during 12 hours and collected 9,741 images. NOAA’s aerial imagery  aids safe navigation and captures damage to coastal areas caused by a storm.  Aerial imagery is a crucial tool to determine the extent of the damage  inflicted by flooding, and to assess the damage to major ports and waterways,  coastlines, critical infrastructure, and coastal communities. This imagery  provides a cost-effective way to better understand the damage sustained to both  property and the environment.  Aerial image showing blue tarps on damaged roofs in Lake Charles, Louisiana, after Hurricane Delta.*Aerial image showing blue tarps on damaged roofs in Lake Charles, Louisiana, after Hurricane Delta.*  Office for Coastal Management (OCM)  OCM Provides Support During 2021 Hurricane Season OCM assisted state research  reserves and coastal zone management programs to help them and their  constituents prepare for and respond to hurricanes. Efforts included a  pre-season, peer-to-peer webinar held for Gulf, Southeast, and Caribbean  partners to discuss hurricane preparedness and lessons learned from the active  2020 season. Through the  online Digital Coast platform, OCM provided data and resources that aid  recovery efforts, including lidar, elevation, and land cover data; risk and  vulnerability assessment methods; and coastal flood inundation and impacts  maps.  Screenshot of the Digital Coast’s Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper.*Tools like the Digital Coast’s Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper help NOAA partners and their constituents understand and prepare for hurricane impacts.*  U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®)  Hurricane Glider Project Digs into Ocean-storm Relationship  For the seventh year, NOAA, the  U.S. Navy, and over 20 federal, state, research, and private sector partners  collaborated on a project using underwater gliders to gather ocean information throughout the FY  21 hurricane season. The project’s goal is to accurately capture ocean  conditions in models that support hurricane intensity forecasts. This year, the project deployed 41 gliders into the Atlantic and  Gulf of Mexico, joined by an additional 25 gliders deployed on independent  missions, gathering temperature and salinity profiles. In total, there  were 2,309  glider days, and the gliders gathered 78,328 temperature and salinity profiles. This  data is available through the U.S. IOOS Glider Data Assembly Center, as well as being distributed through the World Meteorological Organization’s  Global Telecommunications System and assimilated into the operational NOAA  Real-Time Ocean Forecast System. This year, the project introduced a new glider track that explored  the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico, through the Florida Straits, connecting  to the Gulf Stream, and traveling up the Atlantic coast. A glider was  deployed near Louisiana and traveled south, and was recovered off the South  Carolina coast near the end of hurricane season 2021. This glider gathered  important data about these two ocean features, which have been linked to  changes in storm intensification.  The crew on a research vessel working to recover a glider from the water.*Crew of R/V Virginia working to recover a glider in the mid-Atlantic during the 2021 hurricane season as a part of the NOAA Hurricane Glider project. Photo Credit: Donglai Gong/Virginia Institute of Marine Science.*  Successful Partnerships Elevate Hurricane Glider Collaboration The  hurricane glider project brings together a spectrum of agencies, research  institutions, and companies to measure subsurface ocean information to improve  the representation of the ocean in models used for hurricane intensity  forecasting. The U.S.  Navy provided 15 gliders this season — the most since the project began — as  part of the NOAA-Navy collaboration. One Navy glider in the Gulf  of Mexico — NG645 — played a critical role in providing important observations ahead  of Hurricane Ida. The glider traveled into a cold-water eddy where it  measured a fresh water barrier layer. In fact, it was the only observing asset  on the shelf that was available to capture that barrier layer. Fresh water barrier layers inhibit mixing and have been shown to prevent tropical cyclone  weakening. When assimilated into models, the data showed ocean conditions  were going to sustain Ida’s strength and were favorable for storm  intensification. Within NOAA,  coordination between the NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and IOOS southeast  Regional Association SECOORA co-located saildrones and underwater gliders to  observe surface and subsurface conditions in tandem. This is the first  effort to gather simultaneous co-located observations of upper ocean and  meteorological parameters from fully autonomous, uncrewed vehicles for  hurricane studies and forecasts.  Yellow gliders lined up on a boat, ready to launch into the Caribbean Sea.*Gliders ready to launch into the Caribbean Sea as part of the 2021 Hurricane Glider project. Photo credit: Luis Rodriguez/CARICOOS.*  Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R)  OR&R Hosts Hurricane Preparedness Summit In June 2021, OR&R's Disaster Preparedness Program   hosted its annual Hurricane Preparedness Summit for more than 140 virtual  participants. The summit’s goal was to position NOAA and our close partners in  a ready posture for storms such as Hurricane Ida, which made landfall as a  Category 4 storm on August 29, 2021, devastating portions of southern  Louisiana. The two-day conference was  facilitated by the Coastal Response Research Center, an OR&R partnership  with the University of New Hampshire, and featured over 30 different speakers  and covered topics ranging from National Weather Service storm surge modeling  to aircraft operation by NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. Presenters also spoke about  incident command as well as power and utility loss logistics, a timely topic of  discussion months before Hurricane Ida’s impact on southern Louisiana. Speakers  were both internal and external to NOAA and included other state and federal  agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency,  the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Louisiana  Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Environmental Protection.
 **Office Highlights** Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Office for Coastal Management (OCM) U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R)
  NOS **Accomplishments** NOS by the Numbers 2021  Browse by Hurricane: General Hurricane Accomplishments Hurricane Ida  Browse by Office: Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services Coral Reef Conservation Program U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Geodetic Survey NOS Management and Budget NOS Information Management Office for Coastal Management Office of Coast Survey Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Office of Response and Restoration   **Search** Our facts    Get **Social** Social
  **Last updated:** 01/10/22 **Author:** NOAA How to cite this article Contact Us


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