ULM is joining with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Administrative Administration, to study tornadoes this season.
The Verification of the Origins of Tornadoes Experiment-Southeast, or VORTEX-SE, focuses on improving understanding of the unique characteristics of storms and tornadoes in the Southeast United States. The project is funded by NOAA. VORTEX-SE has brought together researchers from two dozen organizations, including ULM, to study the environmental characteristics around storms in the region.
"The gist of it is that if you have multiple radars paired up, you get a lot of really good complimentary measurements," says Dr. Todd Murphy, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science at ULM. "It's a tornado field study, but really, it's bigger than that. It's a severe weather study that's primarily looking at processes associated with severe weather and tornadoes in the Southeast region of America."
Dr. Murphy and Dr. Anne Case Hanks, Dean of the College of Arts, Education and Sciences have led the ULM Atmospheric Science Program to new heights with the addition of the Doppler weather radar system in late 2017. This system data is being linked with the University of Oklahoma mobile radars and NOAA aircraft so that the scientist can share collected data.
More information about VORTEX-SE is available here.
