Page 3.....................................................................On the Case Page 4.....................................................................Timeline of Events On the Case Hosted by the National Severe Storms Laboratory and the Center for the Analysis and Prediction of Storms, collaborators from around the United States and Canada were involved in the VORTEX experiment. Dr. Erik Rasmussen acted as project director and field coordinator and Dr. Jerry Straka served as the project assistant director. VORTEX Interview with Dr. Erik Rasmussen. [Text transcript of interview] To download RealNetworks' RealPlayer click here. Project Location Universities Government Agencies Canadian Agency See Appendix C for a list of VORTEX participants. Vehicles and Aircraft Data was collected by a team of investigators, operating twelve instrumented vehicles (two responsible for deploying Turtles - portable, low-profile, instrumentation packages designed to withstand tornadic wind speeds), a mobile Doppler radar, mobile rawinsonde laboratories, and two Doppler radar-equipped aircraft. Click on the images below to read more. The VORTEX Field Experiment was conducted in a very different manner from storm intercept projects of the past. All field resources were focused on only one storm at a time. The goal was to obtain datasets sufficiently comprehensive so that all of the hypotheses could be adequately evaluated. Every field team conducted very specific scientific data gathering missions. Each vehicle was assigned a specific area of a storm according to the experiment conducted. One such plan can be viewed here. Various experiments covered: drylines, warm fronts, stationary fronts intersecting boundaries pre-landspout boundaries slow-moving, cumulonimbus slow-moving, cumulonimbus in landspout situation slow-moving, rotating cumulonimbus fast-moving, rotating cumulonimbus Landspout experiment slow-moving tornado fast-moving tornado slow-moving high-precipitation supercell fast-moving high-precipitation supercell supercell demise Operational Preparations Operational support of activities during the field phase of VORTEX was carried out from the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The Norman Operations Center (NOC) was charged with forecasting, nowcasting, and assisting in the collection of data. During operations, the NOC acted as a "conduit" between the field coordinator (FC) and observations. Plans for the Norman Operations Center began several months prior to the start of the field experiment. Since real-time operational forecasting was not routinely done at NSSL, plans had to be made to ensure reliable access to data and communications links, availability of various data display systems, and adequate workspace for data analysis and weather discussion between forecasters, the field coordinator, and support scientists. The NOC had three primary functions: During the morning, it served as a forecast center to highlight areas of potential severe convection during the next 12-48 hours. During field operations, continuous nowcasting and coordination of mobile ballooning were conducted. It supported primary communication between the Field Coordinator and forecasters as well as back-up communications for all field units. Forecast and nowcast participants included several members from NSSL, the Weather Service Forecast Office (WSFO) Norman, and the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology. Several visiting staff members from National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC), WSFO Fort Worth, WSO Wichita, the WSR-88D Operational Support Facility (OSF), Environmental Research Laboratories (ERL), and the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) also participated. Timeline of Events 3