World's biggest hurricane simulator aims to improve forecasts

The world's largest hurricane simulator is now complete and experts hope it will improve forecasters' ability to predict how strong a storm will get, which has been a key weak spot for science until now, reports PhysOrg.

According to the article, researchers also hope to use SUSTAIN — which is six times larger than any wind-water hurricane simulator ever built — to explore how storms will damage homes and buildings along the coast. "This is important because most of our building codes and models for how we build in coastal areas are not based on any real information about what happens in these conditions," says Brian Haus, professor at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.