John Schroeder – Texas Tech University Mike Biggerstaff – Oklahoma University Dan Cecil – University of Alabama-Huntsville Kurt Gurley – University of Florida Andrew Kennedy – Notre Dame University Marc Levitan – Louisiana State University Forrest Masters – University of Florida Mark Powell – NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research Division Josh Wurman – Center for Severe Weather Research

Introduction 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 Stations ← Deployed < 30 minutes Deployed < 3 minutes ↓

Mobile Doppler Radars Ka-, X- and C-Band Radars

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

Field 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?

Digital 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 Doppler Radars ≥ 10 m Wind Obs. < 10 m Wind Obs. Surge/Wave Sensors Center for Severe Weather Research Florida Coastal Monitoring Program (UF, CU, FIU) --6 Louisiana State University--2 Notre Dame University-- 24 University of Oklahoma2-- Texas Tech University University of Alabama - Huntsville122-- Subtotal Total85 Observations

Digital 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 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

Implications 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 University Forrest Masters, University of Florida Thank your for your time and attention