John Schroeder – Texas Tech UniversityMike Biggerstaff – Oklahoma University

Dan Cecil – University of Alabama-HuntsvilleKurt Gurley – University of Florida

Andrew Kennedy – Notre Dame UniversityMarc Levitan – Louisiana State UniversityForrest Masters – University of Florida

Mark Powell – NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research DivisionJosh Wurman – Center for Severe Weather Research

IntroductionIntroduction• The US weather observing network is coarse and

prone to failure during natural disasters. This reduces the ability to monitor decaying weather conditions.

• As a result, researchers began conducting experiments at landfall in the late 1990s by deploying– Portable weather stations– Mobile Doppler radars – Surge/wave gauges

Portable Weather StationsPortable Weather Stations

← Deployed < 30 minutes

Deployed < 3 minutes↓

Mobile Doppler RadarsMobile Doppler Radars

Ka-, X- and C-Band Radars

Surge and Wave SensorsSurge and Wave Sensors

↑ Just offshore (~10-15 m of water) ↑ Along the coast and inland ↑

Field Deployment ProgramsField Deployment Programs

• Collective firsts (not exhaustive)– Mobile radar deployment during Fran (1995)– Tower deployments during Charley/Bonnie (1998)– Real-time data transfer during Isabel (2003)– Radar/tower co-deployment during Isabel (2003)– Offshore surge and wave measurements during Ernesto

(2006)

• With few exceptions, these programs have operated independently.

Successful… but Optimal?Successful… but Optimal?

Digital Hurricane ConsortiumDigital Hurricane Consortium• Our nation’s ability to characterize the severity of and

determine the appropriate response to a hurricane impact is based on how much and how quickly information can be interpreted, analyzed, and relayed.

Field Program DopplerRadars

≥ 10 mWind Obs.

< 10 mWind Obs.

Surge/WaveSensors

Center for Severe Weather Research 3 3 15 --Florida Coastal Monitoring Program (UF, CU, FIU) -- 6 -- --Louisiana State University -- 2 -- --Notre Dame University -- -- -- 24University of Oklahoma 2 -- -- --Texas Tech University 1 -- 24 --University of Alabama - Huntsville 1 2 2 --Subtotal 7 13 41 24Total 85 Observations

Digital Hurricane ConsortiumDigital Hurricane Consortium

• Create an umbrella organization that provides:– an adaptable network of observing platforms that can

be delivered on demand to measure wind, surge and wave.

– “global” coordination at landfall– integrated real-time datasets

– a vehicle to attract national funding, while allowing individual programs to maintain their identity and meet their research deliverables

Planned ActivitiesPlanned Activities• Meet with potential users to understand needs• Develop adaptable campaign strategies tailored to user

needs, storm characteristics, coastal geography, etc.• Enable real-time data transfer of integrated datasets

– Develop a common baseline of performance metrics, real-time QA/QC and standardization procedures

– Create dual-Doppler wind fields; standardized with tower measurements

• Conduct rapid and comprehensive damage documentation

ImplicationsImplications• Real-time monitoring of weather conditions

• Aid NHC and NWS Weather Forecast Offices• Help provide answers to critical emergency

management questions• Provide real-time inputs to wind field analyses, loss

models, etc.

• Minimize the uncertainty in the time-varying wind, surge, and wave estimates• Forecasting and model verification• Helps define resiliency of the natural and build

environment, the value of mitigation efforts, etc.

For more information contact: John Schroeder, Texas Tech UniversityForrest Masters, University of Florida

Thank your for your time and attention