Document Actions
VORTRAC in the News
Hurricane Forecasters Adopt Radar Technique Developed by EOL Scientists
VORTRAC, which relies on existing coastal Doppler radars, provides details on hurricane winds and central pressure every six minutes, indicating whether a hurricane is gathering strength in its final hours before reaching shore.
From an article on Newswise:
The National Hurricane Center will implement a new technique this summer, developed by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), to continually monitor landfalling storms in the United States.
The technique, known as VORTRAC (Vortex Objective Radar Tracking and Circulation), was successfully tested by the National Hurricane Center last year.
"VORTRAC will enable hurricane specialists, for the first time, to continually monitor the trend in central pressure as a dangerous storm nears land," says NCAR scientist Wen-Chau Lee. "With the help of VORTRAC, vulnerable communities can be better informed of sudden changes in hurricane intensity."
Lee collaborated with NRL's Paul Harasti and NCAR's Michael Bell to develop VORTRAC. Funding came primarily from the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The NHC is part of NOAA's National Weather Service.
See VORTRAC's coverage on Discovery News.
EOL Scientist Alan Fried Promoted to Senior Scientist