Title
Crowd-sourcing the El Reno 2013 Tornado: A new approach for collation and
display of storm chaser imagery for scientific applications
Author(s)
Seimon, A.;Allen, J.;Seimon, T. ;Talbot, S.;Hoadley, D.
Published
2016
Publisher
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Abstract
The 31 May, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma tornado is used to demonstrate how a video
imagery database crowd-sourced from storm chasers can be time-corrected and geo-
referenced to inform severe storm research. The tornado’s exceptional magnitude
(~4.3km diameter and ~135m s-1 30 winds) and the wealth of observational data highlight
this storm as a subject for scientific investigation. The storm was documented by mobile
research and fixed-base radars, lightning detection networks, and post-storm damage
surveys. In addition, more than 250 individuals and groups of storm chasers navigating
the tornado captured imagery, constituting a largely untapped resource for scientific
investigation.
The El Reno Survey was created to crowd-source imagery from storm chasers, and to
compile submitted materials in a quality-controlled, open-access research database.
Solicitations to storm chasers via social media and email yielded 93 registrants, each
contributing still and/or video imagery and metadata. Lightning flash interval is used for
precise time calibration of contributed video imagery; when combined with geo-
referencing from open-source geographical information software, this enables detailed
mapping of storm phenomena. A representative set of examples is presented to illustrate
how this standardized database and a web-based visualization tool can inform research on
tornadoes, lightning and hail. The project database offers the largest archive of visual
material compiled for a single storm event, accessible to the scientific community
through a registration process. This approach also offers a new model for post-storm data
collection, with instructional materials created to facilitate replication for research into
both past and future storm events.
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