German hopes to emulate NSSL in Europe

Researcher seeks severe weather network based on Norman facilities

By Sean Murphy, Transcript Staff Writer

When German scientist Nikolai Dotzek learned he was coming to Norman for three months to study at the National Severe Storms Laboratory, his friends told him how boring it would be.

But it wasn't long after arriving in March that Dotzek discovered Norman was a relatively large, thriving community with interesting and friendly people.

"The common cliché that people have in Europe about the Midwestern states is that it is completely flat terrain and almost no one lives there and nothing is going on," said Dotzek, an atmospheric researcher at the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhoffen. "So I was surprised to find out that Norman has more than 90,000 people living here. It's quite a big town, and you can get everything you need for your life."

After being approved through a German program that provides researchers with three months of funding, Dotzek came to Norman to learn more about the use of satellites and radar in storm and precipitation analysis. In the1990s, he and some colleagues started collecting data on tornados and severe storms and founded a network based in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

"We are collecting data from different sources ... for an overview that is as complete as possible on severe storm activity in those three countries," he said.

And while Dotzek said there is growing activity in the area of severe storms research, he said it is still not on a professionally organized basis.

The need in Europe for a well-established, organized network of severe storms research, much like the NSSL in the United States, prompted Dotzek to submit a proposal to a contest in Germany sponsored by the insurance industry. He has written and submitted an idea for a pilot project that would establish a European Severe Storms Laboratory based on the U.S. model headquartered in Norman.

"What I found out (while preparing the ESSL proposal) is that it would fit very nicely into the current setting, the research goals and policies set out by the European Union, because they also want to improve the life, health and safety in Europe," he said. "And they also want to improve the level of activity in natural sciences."

Dotzek said the benefit from an ESSL would be a mitigation of severe storm hazards to people and property, and a better knowledge base for the insurance industry concerning storm risk assessment and storm insurance. He said it could also focus the activities of individual countries in the field, giving employment opportunities and contributing to public interest with for weather research in Europe.

Dotzek said that while tornadoes are not nearly as common in Europe as they are in the United States, severe storms do occur regularly, with the biggest problems being flash flooding and hail damage.

Dotzek, who is fluent in English, had only visited the U.S. twice before his recent three month stay in Norman. But he knew a lot about Oklahoma, he said, because one of his high school English teachers in Germany was an OU graduate.

"I was lucky because I had two English teachers who were native speakers from the U.S., and one of these teachers was even from Oklahoma," he said. "So I already knew something about Oklahoma life and Oklahoma history."

That doesn't mean there still weren't a few things that surprised him about the Sooner State.

"I was surprised by the landscape here, with the Wichita Mountains and other mountainous areas that were very nice to see. It's not just flat terrain. So I had a very good impression of Oklahoma."

Dotzek, who returns to Germany on Sunday, has posted his proposal on the creation of an ESSL on his Web site at www.op.dlr.de/-pa4p/.