Originally published by SECOORA

A milestone years in the making: ocean gliders are now formally recognized as an essential component of the 2026 National Hurricane Operations Plan by the Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (ICAMS). Three-dimensional temperature and salinity data collected by gliders in the ocean provide an estimate of how much heat may be available to fuel tropical storm intensity, and the data feeds directly into the data networks that support hurricane forecasting. At regular intervals throughout the day, glider observations are transmitted to the Glider Data Assembly Center (DAC) and are used by National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). From there, they are assimilated into Numerical Weather Prediction models within hours of measurement, helping refine model performance and improve our ability to anticipate changes in storm intensity.  Recognition in ICAMS’ 2026 Hurricane Plan affirms glider data as essential to hurricane monitoring and understanding of storms for smarter forecasts and better outcomes for coastal communities. Read the full article here.