TORUS Project
{{Expert needed|weather|reason=The project results are published in several academic papers that need read through to find the various exact results|date=April 2025}}
The Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells Project, often shorted to the TORUS Project or just TORUS, is a United States federal government funded meteorological field research project to study various aspects of tornadoes, thunderstorms, and supercells.{{cite web |author1=National Severe Storms Laboratory |title=NSSL Projects: TORUS: Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells |url=https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/torus/ |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |location=National Weather Center, Norman, Oklahoma}}
The TORUS Project involved over 50 researches from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), the University of Oklahoma (OU), the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), Texas Tech University (TTU), and the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). The TORUS Project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The TORUS Project covers over {{convert|367000|sqmi|sqkm}}, stretching from North Dakota to Texas.{{cite web |last1=Fearon |first1=Robin |title=Storm Research: Studying the Role of Extreme Weather in Our Planet's Climate |url=https://www.discovery.com/science/Role-of-Extreme-Weather-Climate |website=Discovery Channel |publisher=Warner Bros. Discovery Networks |access-date=10 March 2025 |date=13 December 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Pittenger |first1=Todd |title="Hurricane Hunter" Takes Aim at Midwest |url=https://www.ksal.com/hurricane-hunter-takes-aim-at-midwest/ |website=KSAL |access-date=10 March 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Henson |first1=Bob |title=Drones and a Hurricane Hunter Aircraft to Target Multiday Severe Weather Outbreak |url=https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Drones-and-Hurricane-Hunter-Aircraft-Target-Multiday-Severe-Weather-Outbreak |website=Weather Underground |publisher=The Weather Company}}{{cite web |title=CU Boulder Engineering Collaborates To Study Tornadoes With Drones |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/cu-boulder-to-study-tornadoes-with-drones/ |website=CBS News |date=2 May 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Freedman |first1=Andrew |title=Researchers deploy drones, hurricane hunter to uncover tornado formation secrets |url=https://www.axios.com/2019/05/16/drones-hurricane-hunter-uncover-secrets-tornado-formation |website=Axios |access-date=10 March 2025}}
Equipment
File:NSSL launching a weather balloon during the TORUS Project.jpg
The TORUS Project used several different research equipment items:
- 4 Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
- 2 Ka band mobile radars from Texas Tech University (TTU).
- 9 NSSL Mobile Mesonet Trucks
- 1 X band mobile radar from NSSL and OU (NOXP){{cite web |title=NOAA NOXP Mobile Radar |url=https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/torus/noxp.php |website=National Severe Storms Laboratory |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=26 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250323032636/https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/torus/noxp.php |archive-date=23 March 2025}}
- 1 NSSL Mobile Sounding System
- 2 Radiosonde swarms
- 1 NSSL Mobile LIDAR system
- 1 NOAA Hurricane Hunters's P-3 Orion aircraft
Project results
{{Expand section|with=more details about published project results|date=March 2025}}
The results of the TORUS Project have been published in numerous academic papers, included several to the American Meteorological Society.{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Matthew B. |last2=Houston |first2=Adam L. |last3=Ziegler |first3=Conrad L. |last4=Stechman |first4=Daniel M. |last5=Argrow |first5=Brian |last6=Frew |first6=Eric W. |last7=Swenson |first7=Sara |last8=Rasmussen |first8=Erik |last9=Coniglio |first9=Michael |title=Environmental and Storm-Scale Controls on Close Proximity Supercells Observed by TORUS on 8 June 2019 |journal=Monthly Weather Review |date=December 2023 |volume=151 |issue=12 |pages=3013–3035 |doi=10.1175/MWR-D-23-0002.1 |bibcode=2023MWRv..151.3013W |url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/151/12/MWR-D-23-0002.1.xml}}{{cite journal |last1=Laser |first1=Jordan J. |last2=Coniglio |first2=Michael C. |last3=Skinner |first3=Patrick S. |last4=Smith |first4=Elizabeth N. |title=Doppler Lidar and Mobile Radiosonde Observation-Based Evaluation of Warn-on-Forecast System Predicted Near-Supercell Environments during TORUS 2019 |journal=Weather and Forecasting |date=October 2022 |volume=37 |issue=10 |pages=1783–1804 |doi=10.1175/WAF-D-21-0190.1 |bibcode=2022WtFor..37.1783L |url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/wefo/37/10/WAF-D-21-0190.1.xml}}{{cite journal |last1=Axon |first1=Kristen L. |last2=Houston |first2=Adam L. |last3=Ziegler |first3=Conrad L. |last4=Weiss |first4=Christopher C. |last5=Rasmussen |first5=Erik N. |last6=Coniglio |first6=Michael C. |last7=Argrow |first7=Brian |last8=Frew |first8=Eric |last9=Swenson |first9=Sara |last10=Reinhart |first10=Anthony E. |last11=Wilson |first11=Matthew B. |title=The Potential Roles of Preexisting Airmass Boundaries on a Tornadic Supercell Observed by TORUS on 28 May 2019 |journal=Monthly Weather Review |date=January 2024 |volume=152 |issue=1 |pages=97–121 |doi=10.1175/MWR-D-23-0007.1 |bibcode=2024MWRv..152...97A |url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/152/1/MWR-D-23-0007.1.xml}}{{cite journal |last1=Saba |first1=Robert A. |last2=Coniglio |first2=Michael C. |title=Examining Right-Moving Supercell Environments with Doppler Wind Lidar Observations |journal=University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology Dissertations & Theses |date=2024 |volume=2024 |issue=31761254 |pages=1–116 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/3160269694 |access-date=12 March 2025 |via=ProQuest |id={{ProQuest|3160269694}} }}{{cite journal |last1=Diedrichsen |first1=Madeline |last2=Flournoy |first2=Matthew |last3=Rasmussen |first3=Erik N. |author3-link=Erik N. Rasmussen |title=Investigating Windsond Observations in Supercells |journal=Conference on Severe Local Storms |date=2020 |url=https://ams.confex.com/ams/2020Annual/webprogram/Handout/Paper366187/2020%20AMS%20Poster-Diedrichsen.pdf |access-date=12 March 2025 |publisher=American Meteorological Society}}{{cite journal |last1=Wagner |first1=Melissa |last2=Coniglio |first2=Michael |last3=Rasmussen |first3=Erik |last4=Satrio |first4=Martin |last5=Bodine |first5=David |last6=Candela |first6=Dominic |last7=Kennedy |first7=Doug |last8=Tirone |first8=Elizabeth |title=Harnessing UAS and high-resolution satellite imagery to better characterize wind damage and understand tornado behavior |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |date=6 December 2024 |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=E492–E508 |doi=10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0234.1 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Matthew B. |title=Using Observations from Torus to Better Understand and Simulate the Evolution of Two Proximate Supercells on 8 June 2019 |journal=University of Nebraska–Lincoln Dissertations & Theses |date=2023 |volume=2023 |issue=30487502 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2809435376 |access-date=12 March 2025 |via=ProQuest |id={{ProQuest|2809435376}} }}{{cite journal |last1=Frew |first1=Eric W. |last2=Argrow |first2=Brian |last3=Borenstein |first3=Steve |last4=Swenson |first4=Sara |last5=Hirst |first5=C. Alexander |last6=Havenga |first6=Henno |last7=Houston |first7=Adam |title=Field observation of tornadic supercells by multiple autonomous fixed-wing unmanned aircraft |journal=Journal of Field Robotics |date=September 2020 |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=1077–1093 |doi=10.1002/rob.21947 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rob.21947}} A drone in the TORUS program was featured in the trailer for Twisters.{{Cite web |title=Blockbuster science: Storm-chasing drone appears in 'Twisters' {{!}} CU Boulder Today {{!}} University of Colorado Boulder |url=https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/07/17/blockbuster-science-storm-chasing-drone-appears-twisters |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=www.colorado.edu |language=en}}