Tornado Probe Data - Networking with Interested Researchers?

[Dave C]

Hi all,

I'm involved with a privately funded tornado probe effort. The instrument is expected to have high data quality and was designed by engineers. This is a serious, well planned effort backed by a non-profit. Likely deployments begin this season. The probe will measure several parameters including near ground level winds.

We are interested in initiating discussions with serious, established researchers who may benefit from the data products to discuss specifics of the data output, but we are ourselves are not yet well known in academic, government, or other research circles. Would be grateful for suggestions of specific contacts we can reach out to.

Thanks!

 

[Warren Faidley]

Not sure who you are working with, but placing probes in the path of a tornado requires a specific level of chasing experience in order to place them in the right place while maintaining a level of safety. I'm sure you already know this.

 

[Dave C]

Not sure who you are working with, but placing probes in the path of a tornado requires a specific level of chasing experience in order to place them in the right place while maintaining a level of safety. I'm sure you already know this.

I appreciate the response Warren, and I realize there are a couple of these "I'm making a probe" threads over the years but often not with professional intentions. To be quite clear this is not some ill-conceived, adrenaline-fueled garage operation to throw an object in front of a tornado- or I would not be involved- I am a consulting engineer on the project. I cannot be more specific at the moment, but I can say we'll have experienced chasers on team who understand quite well what the risks are, and are versed in operating very close to tornadoes. I myself will not deploy the probes for the very reasons you state. I like a more relaxed chase anyway.

I am merely hoping some of the mets around here were still well connected and may help us source additional parties who may be interested in the data. We already have a few interested parties, but reaching out to more will help us scale the project effort, and we believe that any data collected would benefit many ongoing research efforts.

 

[Ethan Lang]

I agree that we have seen many people claiming to make a probe with very little professionalism and little engineering. All this is creating is another missile for the tornado to throw if someone were to even deploy. I am glad to hear you are involved in a professional atmosphere and you are keeping safety at mind. Tim Samaras is one of the many chasers that I greatly looked up to and his death was a great punch in the stomach to me. With him we saw even the most professional and safety minded chasers out there still have a tragic experience. So even if there are professional minds involved there are still very extreme risks. I am glad that you are recognizes your own comfort level and choosing to hold back on the deployment aspect.