page_title: VORTEX projects
section_title: VORTEX1
hierarchical_section_title: VORTEX projects / VORTEX1
context_page_description: 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 in 1973 and visual observations led to advancement in understanding of tornado structure and life cycles. VORTEX2 utilized enhanced technology allowing scientists to improve forecasting capabilities to improve advanced warnings to residents. VORTEX2 sought to elucidate how tornadoes form, how long they last and why they last that long, and what causes them to dissipate.
  VORTEX1 and VORTEX2 involved large surface fleets of instrumented vehicles as well as aircraft and mobile radars. Important work on developing and coordinating mobile mesonets came from the field projects, and analysis of data collected in subsequent years led to significant advancement in understanding of supercell and tornado morphology and dynamics.
context_section_description: The VORTEX1 project sought to understand how a tornado is produced by deploying around 18 vehicles that were equipped with customized instruments used to measure and analyze the weather around a tornado. The project has also stated that it is interested in why some supercells, or mesocyclones within such storms, produce tornadoes while others do not. It also concerned itself with why some supercells form violent tornadoes versus weak tornadoes.
  The original project took place in 1994 and 1995, while 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 with significant instrumentation surrounding it for the first time. 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.
caption: Project Vortex. The Dimmitt tornado. National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)
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