Welcome
![Vortex2 Image](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090507003637im_/http://www.vortex2.org/images/250px-Tornado_with_DOW.jpg)
What is VORTEX2?
VORTEX2 is by far the largest and most ambitious effort ever made to understand tornadoes. We expect over 100 scientists and crew in up to 40 science and support vehicles to participate in this unique, fully nomadic, field program in May/June 2009-2010. The National Science Foundation (NSF) foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) together are contributing over $10 million towards this effort. Participants will be drawn from several universities, and several government and private organizations, and will be international including members from Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
The basic questions are simple to ask, but hard to answer.
- How, when, and why do tornadoes form? Why some are violent and long lasting while others are weak and short lived?
- What is the structure of tornadoes? How strong are the winds near the ground? How exactly do they do damage?
- How can we learn to forecast tornadoes better? Current warnings have an only 13 minute average lead time and a 70% false alarm rate. Can we make warnings more accurate? Can we warn 30, 45, 60 minutes ahead?
VORTEX2 will use an unprecedented fleet of cutting edge instruments to literally surround tornadoes and the supercell thunderstorms that form them. An armada of 10 mobile radars, including the Doppler On Wheels (DOW) from the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR), SMART-Radars from the University of Oklahoma, the NOXP radar from the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), radars from the University of Massachusetts, the Office of Naval Research and Texas Tech University (TTU), 10 mobile mesonet instrumented vehicles from NSSL and CSWR, 38 deployable instruments including Sticknets (TTU), Tornado-Pods (CSWR), 4 disdrometers (University of Colorado (CU) and U of Illinois), weather balloon launching vans (NSSL, NCAR and SUNY-Oswego), unmanned aircraft (CU), damage survey teams (CSWR, Lyndon State College, NCAR), and photogrammetry teams (Lyndon State Univesity and NCAR), and other instruments.
VORTEX2 is fully nomadic with no home base. Scientists will roam from state to state following severe weather outbreaks through the Plains.
VORTEX2 will hit the road from 10 May - 13 June 2009 and 1 May - 15 June 2010.
More about Vortex2 . . .
Photo Gallery: (Move mouse over the bottom of photo for more photos)
Latest public news:
Pre-Season Media Day
10am-1pm, 08 May 2009: Media day at the National Weather Center in Norman. [More...]
Field Phases:
10 May, 2009 - 13 June, 2009
1 May, 2010 - 15 June, 2010
Latest news for PIs:
Media Day: Friday 8 May 10am-1pm Science Vehicles should be in parking lot by 9am.All PI`s / instruments invited.
Draft VORTEX2 Operations Plan
Please see opsplan-2009-0501.pdf
(44 MByte, 109 pages)
Consider preparing supplementary budgets for 12 total weeks of operations (up from current 8) Supplements may need to be submitted on short notice at the end of the 2009 field phase.
Daily status messages will begin 5 May Status will be posted in password protected area of EOL site. Link will be posted here.
Possible VORTEX2 session at next AMS Annual Meeting
17-21 January 2010.
Call for papers in May BAMS.
Abstracts due early August.
5th European Severe Storms Conference 12-16 Oct. 2009, Landshut Germany
Abstracts due 30 April 2009
Link http://www.essl.org/ECSS/2009
All hands meeting
09 May 2009,5pm in NWC
Attendance Mandatory
VORTEX2 Planning Meetingy
23 and 24 February 2009
link to presentations
End of Field Phase PI meeting Approx 10-13 June, Exact Date TBD immediately after last field ops, Location: In The Field
Fall PI meeting
11-12 November 2009. Location: Penn State, More details later