Any significant Vortex 2 findings?

[Mike Johnston]

I know it's only been a couple of years, and real science usually takes time, but does anyone have any insight into research that has come from the Vortex 2 project? A normal web search just turns up the usual boiler plate stuff. For all the hyped talk of that Wyoming tornado being the best-documented of all times, it just doesn't seem like much of a payoff in terms of research to date.

 

[John Wetter]

There have been only a couple papers with some brief mention of V2 data. The main papers are probably still at least a couple years out. You need to think about the fact that there was a paper published just last year with data from the Vortex 94-95 experiment. Because they're using the data to prove/disprove/enhance model simulations, etc. the work will definitely take some time. Dr. Markowski has said at several conferences to expect a 4-9 year window to start seeing a lot of science.

If you go to some of the smaller regional conferences, you're starting to see some of the data in presentations and some early findings, but a lot of work has yet to be done.

 

[Jeff Duda]

Oh man are there some findings coming out of this. The La Grange, Wyoming tornado case is quite the focus for some of this new research. What John said about some early findings being discussed at local conferences is very true. I heard a lot when I attended the most recent Severe Local Storms conference in Denver back in 2010. There have also been some seminars at the University of Oklahoma recently highlighting some findings regarding tornadogenesis.

Also, I can't say for sure whether the following is "new" from VORTEX2, but the discovery and measurement of multiple internal RFD surges and their impacts on tornadogenesis seems to have become rather popular over the last few years.

 

[Mike Johnston]

Thanks for the responses. It would be neat if the V-2 website could start linking any new research papers that significantly rely on V-2 data, so taxpayers can have some appreciation of the bang for their buck.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Mike -- Have you checked out the program from the 2010 Severe Local Storms Conference? There are many presentations (many of which you can watch and/or read about) pertinent to VORTEX2. Similarly, this past fall's AMS Conference on Radar Meteorology (see program HERE) contained many presentations (again, you can watch most, and there are long abstracts / conference papers for many) addressing VORTEX2. The formal, peer-reviewed publications are in the pipeline (I'm directly involved in one), but these take time. It may seem crazy, but, as Jeff D. noted above, you can expect to see results even out to 10 years from now.

Of course, part of the problem is that 2009 was very difficult for us during the time VORTEX2 operated. Much of May 2009 saw very little activity in the Plains, although there were a few days of good data collection in June 2009. Mother Nature was much more kind (err, more "climatologically-consistent") in 2010, fortunately. In the end, we just take with nature gives us... If only would could have had another 2004- or 2007-like year during the time of operation (early May - mid June).

 

[Patrick Marsh]

Thanks for the responses. It would be neat if the V-2 website could start linking any new research papers that significantly rely on V-2 data, so taxpayers can have some appreciation of the bang for their buck.

That website is run by Josh Wurman and CSWR. You'd need to contact him. All NSSL publications are available online here: http://publications.nssl.noaa.gov/