VORTEX2: Scientists Chase Tornadoes for Science

Fifteen years ago, scientists from the (National Severe Storms Laboratory) embarked on a mission to study tornadoes up close - by chasing them. The project was called Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment (VORTEX). You can read more about the original VORTEX project on NOAA's site. This was two years before the movie "Twister",* which contained story lines and fictional instrumentation inspired by the movie (see WSJ article below and NSSL's "Twister" page). In May 2009, VORTEX2, a much-improved and larger project, will launch. And this time, they're not messing around. Everything is bigger and better. Here are some numbers (I got these from various sources listed here, especially the Instruments Page):

FUNDING: $12,000,000 ($12 million)TIMING: 5 Weeks ChasingPEOPLE: Over 100 Scientists & CrewVEHICLES: Over 40 Vehicles Adorned With Instruments & ComputersMOBILE RADARS: 8 Including the DOWPLANES: 2 Unmanned Aerial VehiclesMOBILE INSTRUMENTS: Over 50 Not Counting Radars & Balloons

The Steering Committee has some big names involved in the project - including Howie Bluestein (who literally wrote the book on meteorology that I used in college), Eric Rasmussen, a long-time chaser and scientist who I have had the pleasure of meeting and Josh Wurman, inventor of the Doppler On Wheels (Josh and the DOW are featured each season on Discovery's Storm Chasers). Also on the crew is Tim Marshall, the hero of all storm chasers for writing a Storm Chase Magazine between 1986 and 1997.

Like all good government projects, it has several websites herehere and here. They also have Twitter and Facebook pages. Probably the most interesting document that I saw was this PDF showing their chase area (right) and their ideal placement of vehicles and planes for a Supercell Thunderstorm (shown below - the tornado would be at the tip of the "hook").

It's gotten a lot of press lately including this article from the Washington Post which I thought was a good overview.

*SIDENOTE: Although some meteorologists diss the movie, I thought it was surprisingly accurate as science movies go, and you can't expect them to be realistic and show chasers spending their days driving thousands of miles to miss a tornado, which is more realistic. Here's hoping VORTEX2 inspires TWISTER 2.