Remote Sensing Post-Event Techniques for the May 8-9, 2024 Tornado Outbreak

The evening of May 8th, 2024 saw twelve supercells, some of which had multiple mesocyclones, track across the Tennessee Valley. Shortly thereafter, the early morning hours of May 9th, 2024 saw a large quasi-linear convective system with multiple embedded vortices track over the same area. Daylight on the 9th revealed much more damage than initially thought, making for a particularly challenging post-event process to coordinate surveys with local emergency management.

This presentation will discuss how the use of post-storm drone imagery from the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the University of Alabama in Huntsville, WorldView-2/3 satellites, and Planet Labs Normalized Difference Vegetation Index difference imagery helped the Huntsville National Weather Service (NWS) office identify 20 individual tornadoes. Advanced remote sensing techniques aided in damage surveys impeded by limited road networks. One limitation of ground damage surveys is that in order for a track to be considered a single tornado, damage points must be within two miles of one another. Aerial imagery helped preserve the scientific integrity of the event by providing concrete evidence of continuous tracks in inaccessible areas. This effort is being conducted as a part of a pilot project with several Southern Region Weather Forecast Offices, and supported by efforts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and the NASA Disasters Program. Additional discussion will detail how this imagery can be requested and utilized at each local office to ensure the preservation and correct track records for post-event analyses, leading to better interpretation and integration into the research community.