U.S. storm-chasers seek first-hand information about tornadoes

A multinational, multi-university group of scientists and crew are taking part in a six-week experience to track the most violent tornadoes on the prairies and in the midwest United States.

The Radar Observations of Tornadoes and Thunderstorms Experiment [ROTATE] hopes to unravel the twist of inner workings of tornadoes.

There are plenty of unanswered questions, including how to take direct measurements inside of tornadoes. “ROTATE hopes to change that by collecting integrated radar and in situ wind data and photographs inside the strongest, most damaging tornadoes,” lead scientist Karen Kosiba of the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder, Colorado says in a statement.

Other questions team members are hoping to answer include the following:

• How strong are winds in the lowest levels of tornadoes?
• How do tornadoes cause damage? What is the role of changing winds, and airborne debris?
• What causes some tornadoes to be huge and violent, while others are smaller and weaker?

ROTATE is supported primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), with an important contribution from the Merage Foundation. The project is scheduled to hit the road from May 5 through June 20.

The team will use Doppler On Wheels mobile radars to probe inside tornadoes, tornado pods to capture data in armoured ‘black boxes” for later scientific analysis, and pods and vehicles to video and photograph tornadoes inside and out, allowing scientists to immediately study debris impacts and damage.