Beginning in early 2026, NASA launched the North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment (NURTURE), an airborne mission designed to gather detailed atmospheric measurements related to severe winter storms. Operating from Langley Research Center and Goose Bay, Canada, the campaign utilized remote sensing instruments aboard a G-III plane to collect data on moisture, clouds, and ozone over broad regions including the North Atlantic, Canada, and the U.S. Northeast.
The collected data aims to improve numerical weather prediction models by resolving storm features and uncertainties near the tropopause. Planned subsequent campaigns will deploy a larger Boeing 777 airborne laboratory to cover more extensive areas with an expanded instrument suite. This research effort contributes to refining forecasts and warnings for dangerous winter weather events.
Source & further reading
NASA Science Flights Venture to Improve Severe Winter Weather Warnings ↗Source published 2026-01-27. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.