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Atmospheric Instrumentation Research
Problem Statement and Objectives
The Department of Commerce/National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration needed to solve the difficult
problem of obtaining and measuring pressure signatures from within
the cores of tornadoes, information that could provide estimates of
wind speeds there. ARA designed an innovative, low-cost pressure
probe that provides accurate measurements from within the violent
interiors of these storms. Once
deployed in a tornado's path, ARA's Hardened In-situ Tornado Pressure
Recorder (HITPR) accurately measures barometric pressure drop, wind
speed, wind direction, temperature and relative humidity. A
state-of-the-art digital datalogger stores data until the probes are
recovered. The HITPR was tested in a wind tunnel at the University of
Washington with winds up to 200+ mph.
ARA
also designed a hardened in-situ camera probe that can withstand the
brutal forces of the tornado and provide a look inside its core.
Results and Benefits
Data
gathered from the HITPR will be used to enhance tornado research,
ultimately saving lives through earlier warnings and a better building
design for resisting a tornado's winds.
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ARA researcher
Tim Samaras, a grantee of the National Geographic Emerging Explorer
program deployed the HITPR directly in the path of this tornado in
Manchester, SD. The result was a historic first in the amount of
information gathered: barometric pressure drop, wind speed, wind
direction, temperature and relative humidity of a powerful F-4 (wind
speeds of 260 mph) tornado in SD on June 24, 2003 |
