An Automated Method to Calculate Mesocyclone Vertical Alignment

Published research has shown that tornadic supercell’s mesocyclones are typically more vertically aligned than those that are associated with non-tornadic supercells. Developing an automated method to calculate the vertical alignment of a mesocyclone within a supercell could potentially prove useful to operational meteorologists when determining the tornadic potential of a supercell. Developed as part of the long-standing Technology Transfer agreement between the NWS Radar Operations Center and NOAA’s National Severe Storm Laboratory, the recently completed single-radar algorithm called the New Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm (NMDA) can automatically detect and track meso-gamma circulations, including mesocyclones, within volumetric WSR-88D radar data. Utilizing the existing framework of the NMDA, a vertical alignment parameter was developed for NMDA detections to provide the degree of vertical alignment of meso-gamma circulations. This presentation discusses the development of the automated NMDA detection vertical alignment parameter and shows what potential it might have in being able to differentiate between tornadic and non-tornadic supercells in real-time.