Ahead of what is being called one of the largest and most ambitious drone-based investigations of meteorological phenomena ever, the research group conducting it is planning a media day today at the Salina Regional Airport to explain the project and answer questions.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 50 researchers and students are deploying a wide-ranging suite of instruments to collect data on supercell thunderstorms across the Great Plains during 2019 and 2020. The TORUS project, or Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells, aims at understanding the relationships between severe thunderstorms and tornado formation.
Research
Multiple research teams will follow severe thunderstorms to study how factors like wind speed, temperature, humidity and pressure may reveal the small-scale structures in a supercell storm and how it contributes to tornado formation. The goal is to use the data collected to improve conceptual models of supercell thunderstorms. Aims of the project include measuring and observing the frequency of changes in the atmosphere and relationships between the different atmospheric boundary layers.
Roughly a dozen radar, ballooning, unmanned aerial vehicle, and ground-based observations teams will travel into the storm, along with a team in the NOAA P-3 Hurricane Hunter flying just outside the storm, to provide a data-driven, multi-dimensional view of each storm system.
Among the tools used in the project are swarms of radiosondes that take measurements of the atmosphere. The radiosondes are attached to balloons that are much smaller than traditional weather balloons. As many as 100 can be tracked within the storm at once.
The project covers 367,000 square miles — including North Dakota to Texas and Iowa to Wyoming and Colorado.
Partners
The TORUS project has numerous partners with $2.4 million from the National Science Foundation and funding support from NOAA. The TORUS project is led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Partner institutions include: NOAA NSSL, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, Texas Tech University, and the University of Colorado Boulder.
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A kickoff event is planned for the media, and public, next week at the Salina Regional Airport.
WHAT:
News conference, public open house, equipment tours
WHEN:
Tue., May 14
10 a.m.-11a.m: Media briefing followed by a question and answer session, interviews
11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Public Open House; Viewing of unmanned aircraft systems, mobile radars and other instruments; Tours of NOAA’s WP-3D Orion “Hurricane Hunter”
WHERE:
Salina Regional Airport, Hangar 600, 2720 Arnold Court, Salina, Kansas
