AGS FIRP Track 2: Boundary-layer Evolution and Structure of Tornadoes (BEST)

龙卷风的风力有多强？ 它们是如何造成损害的？ 是什么原因导致一些龙卷风很强烈而另一些较弱？ 我们如何才能更好地减少龙卷风的风险？ 为了更好地回答这些问题，需要对龙卷风及其附近进行观测。但是，非常接近地面的观测，人们生活的地方，以及龙卷风内部是非常罕见的，因为它们很难预测，甚至更难观察。 一些罕见的观测表明，龙卷风的风速可以超过每小时300英里，而且最强烈的风非常接近地面，在那里它们特别难以测量。 为了减轻龙卷风造成的危害，更好地了解其基本结构和强度至关重要。 龙卷风边界层演变和结构（BEST）项目将解决其中一些问题，在龙卷风中和附近部署移动的雷达、龙卷风吊舱和SwarmSonde气球。 目标是解决龙卷风的结构，演变，风的强度，以及龙卷风附近的温度和湿度，这可能会影响它们的强度。 BEST还将检查数十年来在龙卷风及其附近收集的移动的雷达和其他数据，以更好地了解它们的强度、规模和潜在破坏性。BEST是对龙卷风结构和演变的多焦点研究。 BEST计划进行一个现场阶段，在此期间，将通过近距离部署的DOW雷达、龙卷风吊舱和SwarmSonde拉格朗日漂流气球收集前所未有的精细尺度运动学和热力学数据。 3-6公里的双DOW基线将首次允许结合密集部署的Tornado Pod和SwarmSondes提供的详细热力学测绘来综合绘制龙卷风矢量风结构。 BEST将把这些新数据与DOW超过200个独特龙卷风的风测量数据库进行比较。 其中大约20个包括双多普勒矢量风解析数据。 其中一个包括一个非常偶然的3公里基线双DOW部署在一个非常大的多涡龙卷风附近的数据，双多普勒数据独特地解决了亚龙卷风漩涡的结构和演变。 BEST的一个重要方面是结合了对罕见或非常偶然观察到的事件的单一案例研究分析，以及对几个到200多个事件的更广泛的统计分析。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

How strong are the winds in tornadoes? How do they cause damage? What causes some tornadoes to be intense and others weaker? How can we build better to reduce the risks from tornadoes? Observations in and near tornadoes are needed to better answer these questions. But, observations very near the ground, where people live, and inside tornadoes are very rare since they are difficult to predict and even harder to observe. Some, rare, observations show that tornado winds can exceed 300 mph, and that the most intense winds are very near the ground, where they are especially hard to measure. In order to mitigate the hazards posed by tornadoes, it is critical to better understand their basic structure and intensity. The Boundary-layer Evolution and Structure of Tornadoes (BEST) project will address some of these questions, deploying mobile radars, Tornado Pods, and SwarmSonde balloons in and near tornadoes. The goal is to resolve tornado structure, evolution, the intensity of winds, and the temperatures and humidities near tornadoes that likely affect how intense they are. BEST will also examine decades of mobile radar and other data collected in and near tornadoes to better understand how strong, large, and potentially damaging they are.BEST is a multi-focus study of tornado structure and evolution. BEST plans a field phase during which unprecedentedly-fine scale kinematic and thermodynamic data will be collected by proximately-deployed DOW radars, Tornado Pods, and SwarmSonde lagrangian drifter balloons. Dual-DOW baselines of 3-6 km will allow, for the first time, integrated mapping of tornado vector wind structures combined with detailed thermodynamic mapping provided with the densely-deployed Tornado Pods and SwarmSondes. BEST will compare these new data with a unique database of DOW wind measurements over 200 unique tornadoes. Approximately 20 of these include dual-Doppler vector wind resolving data. One includes data from an extremely fortuitous 3 km - baseline dual-DOW deployment near a very large multi-vortex tornado, with dual-Doppler data uniquely resolving the structure and evolution of sub-tornado vortices. A critical aspect of BEST is the combination of single-case study analysis of rare or very fortuitously observed events, with broader statistical analysis of several to over 200 events.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.