KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  When Hurricane Hunter crews track storms this year they will have the latest equipment to collect data and provide weather warnings.

Air Force Reserve Command's 403rd Wing took delivery Feb. 15 of the last of 10 Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometers, affectionately known as "smurfs."

The technologically advanced WC-130J started upgrading last year with the smurf, enhancing the life-saving storm data collection by the only operational weather reconnaissance squadron in the world.

"The SFMR will be the biggest advance I can think of to improve hurricane intensity forecasts," said Max Mayfield, former director of the National Hurricane Center.

The Citizen Airmen of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron use the smurf to continuously and accurately measure the winds at the ocean's surface directly below the aircraft.

As the plane flies through a storm, the SFMR senses microwave radiation naturally emitted from foam created on the sea by winds at the surface. Computers then determine wind speeds based on the levels of microwave radiation detected.

In the past, crews extrapolated wind speeds at the aircraft's altitude or from a dropsonde released from the aircraft.

The smurf directly measures the surface winds and is not confined to a single point like the dropsonde. This constant measurement of surface winds gives the National Hurricane Center a more complete picture of the storm.

The smurf can also determine rainfall rates within a storm system. This, in addition to wind speeds at flight level, provides structural detail of the storm.

The Hurricane Hunters improve the accuracy of the National Hurricane Center's forecast by 30 percent, a number likely to rise with the use of the smurf. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)