TornadoVideos.net pictures from the field

The last few weeks have been dead for tornadoes, so I thought now was a good time to post some pictures from the first month of production.  Below from left is our field general Marion, camera operator Robert Seaman who captures the shots with the SRV driving into tornadoes, and Chris Whiteneck, the producer and shooter who rides in the vehicle with us..  Chris' flip-up sun glasses are a necessity in the rapidly changing light conditions of storm chasing.. 
     

And here are pictures of the trip to Radiance Technologies in Oxford, MS to attach the radar (CLOVER) to the roof our vehicle and perform some test aerial probe deployments with the TornadoVideos.net RV Plane..  From upper left is EXTREME storm chaser Chris Chittick, safety engineer Bobo Selman with your executive producer, the SRV at Radiance Technologies for the radar mount, Radiance enginner Hank who rode with us in the Kirksville tornado to operate the radar, and the final four pictures are of the TornadoVideos.net RC plane test flights.  

   

   

We're dying to get back on the chase, and it looks like the next few weeks could be absolutely insane, which is perfect timing since we'll be launching our full tornado field project beginning this Sunday.  The plan is to fly the 12-foot wingspan RC plane around the tornado and deploy parachute probes (pictured above) in the inflow region to get sucked into the circulation.  We'll also be capturing high resolution radar data from the SRV from extreme close range to the tornado, and deploying our 300 pound HD camera probe from last year in the path of the strongest tornadoes.  The goal is directly measure the horizontal and vertical winds inside the mini suction vortices that often rotate around the parent tornado. 

If you have any questions about the field project or anything in general for the TornadoVideos.net team please let them rip!  Check back for updates..

Comments

[Dazza]

Great update!

Will an RC plane really be able to handle flying around a tornado? I thought the winds were intense even some distance away.

Or do you consider it a suicide mission and you expect to rebuild/replace after each chase?

Did you consider a large scale (eg 1/4 scale) offroad vehicle? These are pretty fast and could be used to drive a probe into the tornado path.

[john1_witte]

I watched the show on the edge of my seat but even though Josh is a pro in reading weather he has to trust in instincts that he evidently does not have and Shawn which has! I don't want to watch pompous egomaniacs corrupt a good show with people with excellent experience and natural instincts! I usually don't write ti sites yet I want a tornado as badly as the rest of the team. Tell Josh to quit relying so much on manmade software,(stupid in stupid out), and use his eyes and trust his team! Any more shows like these and I will quit watching...
Go team! Trust your instincts! John V. Witte (from Tornado alley).

[Michael Howington]

On 18 July, I finally watched a few episodes of your TV show, Storm Chasers, and was impressed by the intent of the mission, but was disappointed in its operational execution. Like the the blog post of 18 Jul at 01:48pm, I found the show to have too many participants acting too emotionally, unprofessionally and dangerously. However, I find it partially acceptable due to the natural circumstantial stresses under which the chase team operates. From my perspective, the DOW and its team was the best overall aspect of the show.
Being Florida-born and raised, with a bit of extreme storm, tornado & hurricane experience, and a military officer as well, I would like to offer some suggestions.
Most importantly, have you done an engineering estimate on the TIVs you created, to determine the vulnerability to tornado-force winds??? It appears the TIVs could not survive a direct hit from any real tornado (perhaps any above F1), and although impressive by normal household vehicle standards are definitely sub-par compared to military-grade vehicles.
Have you looked into acquiring a 6x6 or 8x8, wheeled, armored vehicle, such as a US LAV or M-series Stryker, a German TPz Fuchs, or a Russian BTR-60/70/80, et al? For the cost of the TIVs, you may be able to purchase one of the aforementioned vehicles that is no longer military-suitable, and retrofit it for storm chasing, especially the turreted versions. Or, you may be able to find a donor source for one of these vehicles, to acquire one for a reduced cost or perhaps free. These military vehicles are more durable, have equal horsepower, more capacity, 1.5 to 2 times the weight, and over twice the armor of the TIVs; and therefore would be much better suited for your mission than the TIVs.
Check the websites via the following URLs for information on vehicles and a UAV:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/index.html
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/8-wheeled-vehicles.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_armoured_fighting_vehicles_by_country#Soviet_Union
http://www.trekaero.com/Trek_VTOL_Dragonfly_Vehicles.htm
After experiencing the 2004 hurricane season, and watching an idiot drive around in a weather instrument- and camera-equipped station wagon in the midst of one of the hurricanes, I began to look into vehicles that would actually be good candidates for extreme weather reconnaissance and observation. I also jotted down some initial thoughts about the funding, manning and operation of such a vehicle. The key factor in making the operation a reality is funding and support through contributions and other support from the scientific community and weather-related industry, including the media.
If you are interested, I would like to share more details of my thoughts and ideas about a complete extreme weather vehicle suite.
Nonetheless, I wish you the best in your endeavors to better the understanding of extreme weather, which may ultimately lead to the protection of life and property.
v/r Michael Howington (719-200-5533; michael.howington.ctr@mda.mil)
p.s. My interest in tornados and extreme weather is partially due to my wife and her entire family being from Oklahoma, and I and my relatives being from Florida.

[Jessica Boozer]

I love watching storm chasers. right now I'm 14 years old
and I already know what I to be when I get older a storm
chaser. I hope to join Joosh's team or reed's team.

[backpacker]

I just love all this storm chasing stuff, always watching the shows on Disocvery channel here in the UK - shame we don't have any crazy storms to chase, the weather is boring here.

[DBW]

I can't stand the arrogance of REED Timmer! I don't watch the show anymore after he got into arguments with his assistant. He behaved rudely and totally unprofessional. This was a house hold show my husband and I would watch together. Get rid of Reed and we will probably come back. He totally is the drama queen. In fact you should bring back the guy that quit! He at least looked out for other teammates. Reed is not a team player and needs to go back to selling used cars.