January 4, 1997
The statement attributed to Wurman that "...nobody has been able to get up close to a tornado with a radar before" ("Radar Catches a Tornado in the Act," SN: 6/22/96, p. 388) is incorrect.
In 1993, Bluestein and his colleagues reported the first measurements of a tornado's wind speed with a radar from a range of 1.6 kilometers. The approximately 270-mile-per-hour winds remain the highest tornado winds ever measured by radar. Other researchers have also studied tornadoes with radars, notably Roger Wakimoto and his colleagues.
The recent Doppler on Wheels (DOW) mobile radar measurements done by Wurman and his colleagues have resulted in the first three-dimensional maps of a tornado's structure as it evolves through time.
We plan to extend our studies of the structure, maintenance, and formation processes of tornadoes, using upgraded versions of the two DOW radars and an upgraded high-resolution 3-millimeter radar. The DOW radars will collect dual-Doppler vector wind field data with a 40-meter or finer resolution. The 3-mm radar will be able to resolve structures as small as 10 to 15 m at a 3-km range, possibly permitting the first measurements of suction vortices in a tornado.
Joshua Wurman
Assistant Professor of Meteorology
Howard Bluestein
Professor of Meteorology
School of Meteorology
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Okla.
In "Volcanoes under ice: Recipe for a flood" (SN: 11/23/96, p. 327), two picture credits were inadvertently switched. The satellite image appears courtesy of the European Space Agency, the Troms¿ Satellite Station, and James Garvin of NASA. The picture of the chasm in the ice sheet was provided by Oddur Sigurdsson of the National Energy Authority in Iceland.
Table of Contents -- January 4, 1997
