A summary of data collected during VORTEX-2 by MWR-05XP/TWOLF, UMass X-Pol, and the UMass W-band radar

During VORTEX-2, three mobile Doppler radars and a mobile Doppler lidar probed severe convective storms, as part of collaboration between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the Naval Postgraduate School, ProSensing, Inc., and Simpson Weather Associates. The MWR-05XP, a phased-array, X-band, rapid-scan, Doppler radar, collected volume scans at 6 – 20 sec intervals in many supercells from near the ground up to 20 - 40 deg in elevation angle. It documented tornadogenesis on 5 June 2009, 10 May 2010, and 25 May 2010; it documented cyclic mesocyclogenesis on 10 June 2010. TWOLF, a pulsed Doppler lidar used for the first time in the field in 2010, collected many sector scans, RHIs, and VADs in the clear-air boundary layer in the inflow and outflow regions of supercells, some of which were tornadic; the datasets often complemented those collected by the MWR-05XP in precipitation. The UMass X-Pol, a mobile, X-band, polarimetric Doppler radar, was used as part of dual-Doppler networks involving other VORTEX-2 X-band mobile Doppler radars. It collected many datasets documenting many aspects of supercell structure and tornado behavior. The UMass W-band radar is a mobile Doppler radar having a half-power beamwidth of only 0.18 deg. It collected many datasets near supercells, including an ultra-high resolution one of a tornado on 25 May 2010 at 18 sec intervals. In this presentation I will highlight some of our best data, suggest scientific problems to be addressed with the data, avenues of research, and invite collaboration.