Hurricane Irene

Senior Master Sgt. Anthony Hlavac, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron loadmaster, stores a dropsonde he prepared for release into Hurricane Irene August 27. The dropsonde is a parachute-borne device that measures and encodes storm data as it drops toward the surface of the water. It measures air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed and direction. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens)