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Storm chasers run with gale
By Zheng Jinran (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-01 18:04
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Storm chasers install equipment [Yang Mei/Shanghai Morning Post] |
When a typhoon hits, an IVECA car runs in the opposite direction of other cars trying to get away from the storm, and stops at a certain port in Shanghai, waiting for the coming typhoon, Shanghai Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
This car belongs to Shanghai Typhoon Institute (STI) of China Meteorology Administration, charged with collecting data and getting a more comprehensive analysis of typhoons. Its members are also called storm chasers.
Zhao Bingke, director of the information office at STI, said although satellites can supervise and keep track of typhoons from their outset, mistakes can happen in monitoring storms or other weather systems 5,000 meters above the earth. The data need to be collected in person.
The equipment in the 4-ton car is all imported, worth 2 million yuan ($294,000). They include a sounding balloon that can fly as high as 30,000 meters and an apparatus that can scan the typhoon and get a cutaway drawing.
