The right combination of technology and human skill have combined to make it possible to enter the eye of an active tornado and obtain the scientific data needed to save lives from the more than 1,200 tornadoes that strike each year.
MOORESVILLE, NC (PRWEB) April 6, 2004 -- Tornado season is about to begin, and Steve Green is preparing to enter the eye of a tornado in a state-of-the-art vehicle loaded with scientific data collection systems on a quest that he hopes will result in a better ability to forecast tornadoes and issue early warnings to save lives.
Many have observed tornado activities and sought to understand them, but never before has man successfully entered the eye of the tornado in a scientific mission.
Tornadoes are a phenomenon of nature that have intrigued man's curiosity throughout the ages and have been one of natures most unpredictable and devastating forces. If we can ever go beyond the barriers and discover the secrets at the eye of a tornado, we may begin to understand and predict their devastating and awesome behavior, said Green from http://TornadoAttack.com.
Green will go where no one has gone before into the eye of a tornado on a mission dedicated to the safe, scientific extraction of important new information about the most devastating and destructive force of nature on the face of the earth.
The expedition has two major facets. The first is to gather new scientific information, and the second is to make this dramatic story available to the world. For the first time a highly qualified team of experts will be seen by the world as they provide the most dramatic reality television program ever produced.
Video footage will be seen from the ground, from the air around the tornado, and from inside the eye of the tornado itself, all of which promises to be the most dramatic live-action footage ever seen on television.
One of the most perplexing and elusive scientific questions that man has yet to answer is what happens in, around, before and during the most devastating force of nature on earth a tornado. Despite millions of dollars spent on decades of research by the best and the brightest meteorologists and climatologists in the world, mankind is still desperately seeking clues about how to track, understand and predict the randomness and complete unpredictability of tornado.
How do they form? What ingredients spawn them? Why do some explode savagely and without warning from small and unremarkable thunderstorms, while other towering and monstrous super cells peter out and pass without incident? How do things like storm speed, rear flank downdrafts, vortex, and mesocyclones factor into the equation? And ultimately, what can we do to better understand the excruciatingly complicated phenomenon that produces the strongest winds on the face of the earth? Winds that kill and injure hundreds of Americans and do more than half a billion dollars in property damage every year.
Goals of Tornado: Expedition Into the Eye:
To enter the eye of a tornado with a state-of-the-art vehicle loaded with scientific data collection systems.
To record images of the internal phenomena of tornado activities
To track scientific data from the immediate surroundings and inside atmosphere of a tornado
To track the movement of tornadoes with the mobile lab and monitor the tornado cells internal and external condition changes
To launch weather rockets with monitoring devices into and at the circumference of the eye of a tornado to provide trackable scientific data at various elevations
Launch a point-of-view rocket video camera which will provide a unique aerial view of the tornados turbulent activities, including inside the eye
Provide reality TV of this dramatic pursuit
The expedition will conduct a mobilized chase of tornadoes with a specialized scientific vehicle capable of entering and recording activities at the eye.
A fleet of three mobilized scientific weather laboratories with Dual Doppler radar units and the tornado attack vehicle is led by world-class research meteorologists, aero-dynamics experts, and a professional motor sports team. Photos of some of the vehicles can be found at http://TornadoAttack.com.
During the peak tornado season the expedition team will be on 24-hour alert, ready to mobilize anywhere along Tornado Alley. As storm buildups are detected, the tornado attack fleet will race toward the forming weather cell to begin a strategic close follow and monitoring.
The three Dual Doppler radar units will take up tracking positions, and the tornado attack vehicle will approach and then enter the storm. Cameras from all units will record the ensuing storm activities while numerous weather monitoring equipment will document the moment by moment characteristic changes.
The tornado attack vehicle has been designed to withstand wind turbulence to approximately 260 miles per hour, but its limits are yet to be tested against the dynamic forces of nature. Green is highly qualified to be behind the wheel of the tornado attack vehicle with many years as a driver in national auto racing series.
Meteorologist Josh Wurman, Ph.D. led the development of bistatic multiple-Doppler radar and heads the team of scientists working on the expedition team. Wurman's newly patented Rapid-DOW is the most advanced Doppler in the world.
A crew of experienced broadcasters will provide live reporting and images of each pursuit throughout the four weeks of the expedition, which will be made available to the media.
Of particular importance are the thermodynamic properties of a phenomena called the rear flank downdraft, or RFD. Different theories of tornado genesis postulate that the RFD may be buoyant or non-buoyant, but observations that could distinguish among these theories do not exist, explained Wurman.
If we are able to launch instruments in the vicinity of and into tornadoes, we may be able to obtain these much-needed observations. It is hoped that these observations will enable us to better understand the process of tornado formation, thus enabling us to increase our skill in forecasting tornadoes, Wurman said.
Financing of the expedition has been through commercial sponsors, but Green said he hopes to find additional major sponsors to enable the team to meet all their goals during this tornado season.
What a tremendous opportunity to associate your company with a project that will receive prominent national exposure in the process of saving lives. We are willing to talk with any potential sponsor to determine how we can best help each other, said Green.
Negotiations are currently underway for a major news network to receive the live feeds, and for the production of broadcasts. News media access to the expedition crew can be facilitated on request. Live broadcast interviews can be made available as well.
Contact:
Steve Green, (704) 658-8396
cell: (704) 567-4848
greenseq@aol.com
http://TornadoAttack.com
David M. Bresnahan, (801) 562-5362
http://ThatPRGuy.com
# # #
|
