Design and rocket deployment of a trackable pseudo-Lagrangian drifter-based meteorological probe into the Lawrence/Linwood EF4 tornado and mesocyclone on 28 May 2019

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Abstract

A custom lightweight, miniaturized, and trackable meteorological probe was launched by a model rocket into the inflow region of an EF4, long-tracked tornado south of Lawrence, Kansas, on 28 May 2019 and sampled tornado core flow. The rocket reached apogee at 439ma.g.l., releasing the "pseudo-Lagrangian drifter"by parachute directly into the tornado vortex. The probe reached a three-dimensional (3D) speed of 85.1ms-1 in the first revolution around the tornado, measured an altitude-corrected pressure deficit of -113.5hPa at 475ma.s.l., and sampled a tornadic updraft speed of 65.0ms-1. The probe then transitioned to an environment exhibiting a more tilted ascent above an altitude of 4300ma.s.l. at speeds up to 84.0ms-1 to a maximum altitude of 11914ma.s.l. 1Hz pressure, temperature, relative humidity, GPS, acceleration, gyroscope, and magnetometer data for the flight were transmitted in real time to a ground station until 10680ma.s.l. and the probe landed 51km northeast of the launch position. The probe was recovered without damage, which is attributed to the pseudo-Lagrangian drifter design, and then higher-resolution and complete 10Hz data were downloaded for the flight. This novel deployment method and design facilitate data collection in real time from within tornadoes, the mesocyclone, and downdraft without requiring the probes to be recovered or for researchers to enter the circulation to deploy equipment.

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Timmer, R., Simpson, M., Schofer, S., & Brooks, C. (2024). Design and rocket deployment of a trackable pseudo-Lagrangian drifter-based meteorological probe into the Lawrence/Linwood EF4 tornado and mesocyclone on 28 May 2019. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17(3), 943–960. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-943-2024

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