In 2000, NOAA launched its latest GOES generation. It offers better images, improving the resolution from 4 kilometers to 1 kilometer, according to James Baker, NOAA Administrator. The satellites don't just collect images. Those computers couple the satellite data with that received from Hurricane Hunter planes, and turn it into numerical weather models. Meteorologists then read and use the models to create weather predictions, as well as hurricane forecasts.
Experts use three types of models to map a hurricane's next move.
Statistical models try to relate the hurricanes' motion to experience with past storms, while dynamical models address atmospheric changes based on a few assumptions. Statistical-dynamical models use a combination of the latter two, comparing current conditions with characteristics of past storms. Since data for models comes in at a fast rate, fast computers are a must. That's why NOAA has devoted resources to high-tech supercomputers. Its latest computer is said to be able to process weather data at a rate of 2.5 trillion instructions per second, once it is running at peak capacity.