The Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (or VORTEX) are field experiments that study tornadoes. VORTEX1 was the first time scientists completely researched the entire evolution of a tornado with an array of instrumentation, enabling a greater understanding of the processes involved with tornadogenesis. A violent tornado near Union City, Oklahoma was documented in its entirety by chasers of the Tornado Intercept Project (TIP) in 1973. Their visual observations led to advancement in understanding of tornado structure and life cycles. VORTEX2 used enhanced technology that allowed scientists to improve forecasting capabilities and improve lead time on advanced warnings to residents. VORTEX2 sought to reveal how tornadoes form, how long they last and why they last that long, and what causes them to dissipate. VORTEX1 and VORTEX2 was based on the use of large fleets of instrumented vehicles that ran on land, as well as aircraft and mobile radars. Important work on developing and coordinating mobile mesonets came from these field projects. Analysis of data collected in subsequent years led to significant advancement in understanding of supercell and tornado morphology and dynamics. The field research phase of the VORTEX2 project concluded on July 6, 2010.
VORTEX1
The VORTEX1 project sought to understand how a tornado is produced by deploying tornado experts in around 18 vehicles that were equipped with customized instruments used to measure and analyze the weather around a tornado. As noted aircraft and radar resources were also deployed for such measurements. The project directors were also interested in why some supercells, or mesocyclones within such storms, produce tornadoes while others do not. It also sought to determine why some supercells form violent tornadoes versus weak tornadoes. The original project took place in 1994 and 1995. Several smaller studies, such as SUB-VORTEX and VORTEX-99, were conducted from 1996 to 2008. VORTEX1 documented the entire life cycle of a tornado, for the first time measuring it by significant instrumentation for the entire event. Severe weather warnings improved after the research collected from VORTEX1, and many believe that VORTEX1 contributed to this improvement.
“An important finding from the original VORTEX experiment was that the factors responsible for causing tornadoes happen on smaller time and space scales than scientists had thought. New advances will allow for a more detailed sampling of a storm's wind, temperature, and moisture environment, and lead to a better understanding of why tornadoes form –-and how they can be more accurately predicted,” said Stephan Nelson, NSF program director for physical and dynamic meteorology. VORTEX had the capability to fly Doppler weather radar above the tornado approximately every five minutes. VORTEX research helped the National Weather Service (NWS) to provide tornado warnings to residents with a lead time of 13 minutes. A federal research meteorologist, Don Burgess, estimates that the "false alarms" pertaining to severe weather by the National Weather Service have declined by 10 percent. The movie Twister was at least partially inspired by the VORTEX project.
VORTEX2
VORTEX2 was an expanded second VORTEX project, with field phases from 10 May until 13 June 2009 and 1 May until 15 June 2010. VORTEX2's goals were studying why some thunderstorms produce tornadoes while others do not, and learning about tornado structure, in order to make more accurate tornado forecasts and warnings with longer lead time. VORTEX2 was by far the largest and most ambitious tornado study ever with over 100 scientific participants from many different universities and research laboratories. "We still do not completely understand the processes that lead to tornado formation and shape its development. We hope that VORTEX2 will provide the data we need to learn more about the development of tornadoes and in time help forecasters give people more advance warning before a tornado strikes," said Roger Wakimoto, director of the Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and a principal investigator for VORTEX2. "Then you can get first responders to be better prepared—police, fire, medical personnel, even power companies. Now, that's not even remotely possible," said Stephan P. Nelson, a program director in the atmospheric sciences division of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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