Total of Funding Awarded $2.5M per year – Four Selected Projects
VORTEX-USA continues the work of the VORTEX-SE program and also expands it by seeking to increase our knowledge of meteorological processes and societal impacts of tornadoes nationwide, while gaining improved understanding of unique regional challenges that heighten tornado vulnerability. VORTEX-USA will integrate research findings into NOAA’s Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs) framework to ensure that this research effort improves NOAA’s operational forecast and warning capacity and improves societal response to tornado threats and impacts.
This year, our review panel has selected several NSSL-funded projects for VORTEX-USA. These projects involve the use of an Integrated Warning Team, ensemble subsetting techniques, surveys and data collection, and modeling to improve forecasts, along with improving messaging of high impact weather.
The award total* for the 4 selected projects equals $2.5M in grants and each project will be funded for 3 years beginning Aug. 1, 2023.
*Award totals are distributed over the life of the projects and conditional on appropriations
Projects Selected
| Project Title | PI’s /Co-PI’s | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rural Region Readiness: Collaborative Learning through Integrated Warning Team Workshop Sessions on Tornado Safety | Elizabeth H. Hurst (CASR/University of Oklahoma) PI Michelle E. Saunders (CASR/University of Oklahoma) Co-PI Daphne LaDue (CASR/University of Oklahoma) Co-PI | This three-year proposal utilizes social science research to develop and test an Integrated Warning Team (IWT) design, called Rural Region Readiness (RRR), specifically developed to learn about and communicate to the unique needs of vulnerable populations within the rural Appalachian region. |
| VORTEX-USA: An Investigation of Forecast Improvements Realized Through Ensemble Sensitivity Analysis and Subsetting | Christopher Charles Weiss (Texas Tech University) PI Brian Ancell (Texas Tech University) Co-PI David Collin Dowell (Texas Tech University) Co-PI | We will produce high-resolution (1-km horizontal grid spacing) WRF simulations of up to ten cases from previous VORTEX-SE field programs (VORTEX-SE 2016, 2017, 2018, Meso18-19). These cases will be viewed through the lens of ESA to assess whether sensitivity structures have sufficient coverage and consistency. |
| Risk and Crisis Communication, Impact Assessment Standards, and Best Practices for Effective Sheltering Decisions in Response to Structural Vulnerability | Dr. Laura Myers (University of Alabama) PI Dr. Jennifer Collins (University of South Florida) PI Dr. David Roueche (Auburn University) PI Todd Barron (NWS) Co-PI William Parker, Jr. (NWS) Co-PI Keith Stellman (NWS) Co-PI Steven Nelson (NWS) Co-PI Tim Halbach (NWS) Co-PI | This interdisciplinary study will investigate the personalized and actionable risk and crisis information that the public needs to make the most effective sheltering decisions for severe weather while referencing their unique structural vulnerability perceptions. |
| Examining the environmental relationships and processes influencing tornado behavior in the Southeast United States | Branden Katona (CIWRO, NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory) PI | The goal of this project is to better understand the extent of environmental influences on storm and tornado evolution in order to increase forecast performance. The overarching theme is the impact of environmental inhomogeneities (storm-induced or otherwise) on storm behavior in the southeast U.S. |
