brian schoettmer & john gordon wfo louisville, ky
TRANSCRIPT
Brian SchoettmerBrian Schoettmer&&
John GordonJohn Gordon
WFO Louisville, KYWFO Louisville, KY
Ground Survey Limitations/Improvement
Ohio/Grayson/Hardin County Supercell
Value of Video
Road Map for Implementation
Mutual Understanding Between Partners
Wrap Up
Damage occurs in places that cannot be easily accessed…
Damage in heavyDamage in heavyterrain 0.5 milesterrain 0.5 miles
from road willfrom road willnot be seennot be seen
If A Tree Falls In The Woods…If A Tree Falls In The Woods…
……Was There Really Damage?Was There Really Damage?
Tornado Tracks: 1830 - Present
Legend
(E)F-0(E)F-0(E)F-1(E)F-1(E)F-2(E)F-2(E)F-3(E)F-3(E)F-4(E)F-4(E)F-5(E)F-5
Divergent Vs. Convergent Signatures• Big picture easier to see from the air
Time Consuming • Ground surveys are inefficient
Length/Width/Start/End• Fine details are harder to determine from ground
Embedded Signatures• Tornadic signatures embedded in overall straight
line wind damage – common in Ohio Valley QLCS storms
Multi-disciplined team approach for a more comprehensive survey
NWS Meteorologists
Broadcast Media
StructuralEngineers
GeneralAviation Pilots
Better Surveys!
The Civil Air Patrol is a GREAT resource…
However…
Not always feasible due to budget constraints and timeliness issues.
Photographer/Flight InstructorGlen Norman
PilotRoy Cantrall
Tornado? Scud? Funnel Cloud?
Sparked heavy media interest…however no damage reports from the area
Videos Shot Here
EF-2 &EF-0Here
EF-1Here
Damage signatures clearly convergent
Storm Motion
Huntingburg, IN
Oil RigOil RigOil SlickOil Slick
QuicklyQuicklyindentifyindentify
scour marksscour marksnot easily not easily seen on seen on groundground
Path lengthPath lengthand widthand width
easily easily identifiedidentified
IdentifyIdentifybreaks inbreaks inpath orpath or
continuouscontinuous
Quick Quick overviewoverview
Distance Distance debrisdebris
scatteredscattered
Survey placesthat
cannotbe
reachedon foot
Recruit pilots at local airports with anattractive brochure
Speak to local pilotgroups
Set up local officeprocedures/
guidelines to follow
NWS Jackson, KYnow participating
Easily accessible Google Earth KML file with volunteer pilot locations, range, contact info, etc. located on a shared office
drive.
Unique Entry Into Pilot Log Book
Receive An Awesome
Plaque!
Be An IntegralPart In Rating
Storm Damage
Partner with the
NWS
Plaque presentation in front of a Piper Cherokee140 at Addington Field,
Elizabethtown, KY.
Left: Glen Norman (photographer)
Middle: Roy Cantrall(pilot)
Right: Brian Schoettmer
AOPA Online’s Dan Nimowitz wrote an article about the program and our first volunteers
Pilots must clearly understand this is a volunteer program
Pilots cannot be asked to fly,they must already be planning
to fly that day
Pilots cannot becompensated
Be sure the pilot has a specific path with recognizable landmarks to follow.
Example…cities, rivers, lakes, airports, etc.
Don’t send them on a “Wild Goose Chase”.
River/Lake
Airport
Local Media Oil Pipeline Aircraft
State PoliceMore local pilot groups, airshows, etc.