2020 Southeast Hurricanes, Laura, Delta, Zeta
The 2020 hurricane season was one of the most active and destructive on record, with 30 named storms and 13 hurricanes. The season saw several powerful storms make landfall in the United States. The record-breaking season was attributed to a combination of factors including warm sea surface temperatures, low wind shear, and a strong West African monsoon season.
RAPID supported NEER’s response to tropical storm Cristobal’s landfall near New Orleans with instrumentation and remote training materials.
The goal of the effort was to obtain information about the interactions and feedbacks among post-storm hydrodynamics, geotechnical properties of the coastal marsh system, and vegetation health. Instrumentation included the DJI Matrice 210, DJI Mavic Pro 2, and Micasense Altum multispectral and thermal camera
The RAPID facility responded to storms Laura, Delta and Zeta by supporting projects both before and after the events. The NEER response pre-hurricane, led by Navid Jafari in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, used RAPID drones and various coastal data collection equipment to obtain information about the interactions and feedbacks among post-storm hydrodynamics. Post-hurricane, RAPID sent the NCTech Pulsar+ street view camera, with RAPID-produced instructional videos, to Sabarethinam Kameshwar of LSU, in support of a StEER-led streetview image collection project also around Baton Rouge.
