Tornado Probes

[Drake S]

I'm currently working on getting a tornado probe made does anyone have any tips on what i should do differently and/or things i should avoid?

 

[Jonathan Scrogham]

For what purpose? Are you attaching scientific equipment to collect data or just capturing video?

 

[Drake S]

both high def pictures and video and scientific data

 

[Drake S]

Right now im 3d printing prototypes and doing research on what i should in cloud and different designs and etc.

 

[Jonathan Scrogham]

I’d definitely personally reach out to someone who has the experience. If I may ask, what is the end goal for collecting data? Are you using it for a personal research project, and if so, what are you researching? Building a probe is costly, so I would definitely have a final vision for the product before I start investing money in it.

 

[Drake S]

The end goal when i get out of college is to get it in front of tornadoes to better understand which supercells produce and which ones dont and to see if it is even remotely possible to forecast tornadoes as well as help out on the warning times. Everything but the sensors and the metal are the main things I'm missing and im trying different things to reach out to people as well.

 

[Todd Lemery]

There have been probes like the one Tim Samaras used to record the greatest pressure drop, but getting a probe into a tornado probably won’t help in figuring why some storms produce and others don’t. To understand why, it will be necessary to get multiples of storms modeled to find common denominators that means a tornado is likely. Having portable DOWs, temperature, pressure, dew point and wind probes (among others) will probably be necessary to maybe come up with an answer. Either that, or we could wait for AI to do that for us.

 

[Drake S]

yea that is true but my main focus would still be tornado research though. for wind, pressure, temp, humidity, and pics/video

 

[gdlewen]

I think you should pursue it, because having a motivation--a reason to focus--at this point in your student career is not a bad thing at all. There is a lot to learn between now and actually deploying a probe, and that learning should not be underestimated.

Just beware of what I call the "Student's Discovery": appearing to discover something only to find out you've "only(!)" learned something new, and it was actually discovered by someone else, perhaps long ago. Don't be discouraged by that because it is actually a good thing.

Finally: keep your mind open to the idea that while arrays of single point measurements in the boundary layer may be useful, the four-dimensional picture will probably prove more important. (I'm just thinking of the evolution of the field as I perceive it from my personal research. Those who have actually worked in the field will be able to say more, I'm sure.)

Go for it.

 

[Jeff Wright]

Drones are increasingly helpful

A fully autonomous drone system for cinematography and wildlife monitoring

Recent technological advances, such as increasingly sophisticated drones and cameras, have opened exciting new possibilities for cinematography. Most notably, film directors can now shoot scenes from a wide range of angles that were previously inaccessible and in far higher resolution.

techxplore.com

 

[Jeff Duda]

The end goal when i get out of college is to get it in front of tornadoes to better understand which supercells produce and which ones dont and to see if it is even remotely possible to forecast tornadoes as well as help out on the warning times. Everything but the sensors and the metal are the main things I'm missing and im trying different things to reach out to people as well.

This has been done many times before, by more than one group. You should perform some background research on projects such as VORTEX, VORTEX 2, TWISTEX, ANSWERS, ROTATE, TORUS, and others before continuing. Chances are you have a lot to learn and would make the same mistakes that have already been encountered if you don't do your ressearch.

I recommend the Center for Severe Weather Research as a starting place for your research.