Only about 2 percent of tornadoes a year turn deadly, but there is currently no way to predict which ones will become dangerous. Researchers at OU are hoping a new project, Radar Observations of Tornadoes and Thunderstorms Experiment, or ROTATE, will help solve the problems of predicting deadly storms.
Joshua Wurman, assistant professor of meteorology and ROTATE leader, said right now there is little ability to predict dangerous storms.
"Close-up observations of tornadoes as they form and mature are crucial for better understanding, prediction and warning," he said. "The warnings we get today are based on basic research conducted five to 20 years ago."
The crews take two Doppler on Wheels, DOWs, to supercell thunderstorms, which cause tornadoes.
The DOWs are driven to within a half-mile to three miles of a tornado, which allows the radar to detect objects as small as 60 feet to 100 feet inside the tornado.
The DOWs are equipped with radars that are state of the art in tornado observation, according to Wurman. The radars are ten times faster than most, getting images every 30 seconds to 40 seconds.
They also serve as a safety tool, because they allow the crew to watch for changes in tornadoes' paths, by seeing through rain, dust and darkness.
"We watch the tornado visually and with the radar, and we have escape routes planned," Wurman said.
The DOWs are also fast. They can be deployed in under 50 seconds, and in case the crew is in danger, they can be undeployed in under 25 seconds.
OU developed the DOWs with the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Computer technology allows rapid imaging of what is inside tornadoes, and information from the Internet can be quickly downloaded. The first three-dimensional map of wind and debris was made in 1995.