Tornadoes will be the target as researchers set out from Huntsville, Alabama, to collect data as part of VORTEX-Southeast, a research project coordinated by NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. The goal is to understand how environmental factors in the southeastern United States affect the formation, intensity, structure, and path of tornadoes, as well as determine the best methods for communicating forecast uncertainty to the public..

The VORTEX-SE field study, set to run March 1 through April 30, will involve 40 physical and social science researchers from 20 research entities, many based in the southeast. They will deploy and operate approximately 13 vehicles, three mobile radars and one fixed radar.

VORTEX-SE is intended to help improve the quality of warnings from NOAA’s National Weather Service and enhance the Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETS) research project. This will have substantial impact on the NOAA mission of protecting life and property.

A VORTEX-SE Media Day will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, February 29, at the Severe Weather Institute and Radar & Lightning Laboratories (SWIRLL) building on the campus of the University of Alabama – Huntsville. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to tour research vehicles and speak with participating scientists.

The Norman NOAA Communications Team has launched a VORTEX-SE website to provide up-to-date information for the media and general public: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/vortexse/.