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O'Reilly Interview Digs Into the Tech of Storm Chasing
blackbearnh writes "If you've watched the Discovery Channel series 'Storm Chasers,' you'll be familiar with Dr. Joshua Wurman and his Doppler on Wheels radar, which he uses to study tornadoes up close and personal every spring. O'Reilly Media spent some time last week speaking to Dr. Wurman about what it takes, technologically, to operate a weather radar in 100-mile-per-hour winds in the middle of a lightning storm. They also talked about the value of this kind of research to both tornado and hurricane research, and how having a film crew around during missions affects the science."
Dopper 1 Billion + 4x4 = Doppler 4x4 Billion
Next... Lets study magma... dive in ppl!
This is something I've always wanted to do. Someday when I'm rich I'd like to become a storm chaser; outfit an awesome armored car with minicomputers and a powerful radar and run flat tires. I think the weather is going to be getting more interesting, seeing the recent extreme patterns of the jetstream almost reaching the arctic circle before winter even starts! There's something about a good thunderstorm; the booming thunder, the hint of ozone in the air. Ahh.
Cool! Amazing Toys.
...you need to balance the bitter with the sweet.
{tornado on radar}
no film crew:
"jim, are we near this isobar on the map?"
film crew:
"GOOD GOD JIM GET US TO THIS ISOBAR STAT! JESUS CHRIST! AAAAH!"
{truck gets flat tire}
no film crew:
"yup, we have a flat"
film crew:
"Why God, why. I swear I have never believed in you before, but if you answer this one prayer for me now. Oh sweet Jesus."
{tornado turns towards truck}
no film crew:
"yeah, it's turning towards us"
film crew:
"I know what you're thinking. 'Did he say EF5 or EF3?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a tornado, the most powerful windstorm in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
He should have stuck with going after the real killers of JFK instead of selling out so he could sexually harass women.
Being out in Kansas, its kind of expected that we have some totally awesome storm chasing vehicles.
I don't watch it regularly but have taped a few segments. Other than the one guy in the other chase crew who apparently has lost the ability to control the volume of his voice (BACK UP! BAACK UPP!! BAAACK UPP!!! BAAAAAAAAACK UPP!!!!!!!!!!!!), the one thing that really grinds on me is that no one uses a tripod when filming a tornado. They all hop out of their vehicle, grab their camera and start taping. Then, when you look at the video, you do see the tornado in the distance but it's like the camera guy from Battle Star Galactica had two too many cups of coffee (and I like the effect in BSG).
It's not that difficult to have a quick release tripod mount on the bottom of your camera. It can stay on while you're in the vehicle and holding the camera and be attached to the tripod in seconds once you're outside and taping.
It would make things much more easy on the eyes not to mention you can pick out more details with a stable shot than one moving about.
Yes, it is a bit more cumbersome to haul out the tripod, pop the legs open, mount the camera and start filming, but it would make things more enjoyable to watch.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Whilst I watched this and other similar types of weather related shows on tv with interest, the value can be boiled down to cheap tv. No set to build, a small appearance fee, and a tank of gas for the storm chasers.
As for scientific value, you don't know until you explore the objects of interest. However I would say there's a cut-off point between curiosity and cost. The Large Haldron Collider is a huge project eating it's way though money at considerable rate, with not much to show for it as the end goal.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
Why chase storms at all? All you have to do to capture tornado footage and record atmospheric data is simply set some cameras and equipment up in various trailer parks in the "Tornado Alley' region and wait for the tornadoes to show up and feed on a few double-wides.
You may find it interesting that Joshua is the son of Saul Wurman. The Information Design icon. His dad coined the term Information Architecture!
Everybody's doing it. Just throw up a web site and charge European tourists $3000 per week to drive all over creation and get their grub at the Elk City Waffle House.
It's all good fun so far but sooner or later somebody is going to be driving the wrong way down the interstate like the douchebag producer in the Discovery Channel show and take out a car full of my Okie relatives.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Not to take anything away from Dr. Wurman's research but the tv program itself just seems staged, silly and reminds me of the old 'A-Team' show but without a Mr. T.
They are few and far between, but programs done about the National Weather Services' severe storm research center in Norman, Oklahoma are much more interesting.
"what it takes, technologically, to operate a weather radar in 100-mile-per-hour winds in the middle of a lightning storm.
What does it take? Balls. Great big brass ones. Which, unfortunately, attract lightning, putting Dr. Wurman even more at risk!
Most tornadoes only last for a few seconds, and under many circumstances, are travelling at a fairly quick rate of speed. Storm chasers have to be aware of hail, lightning, direction of the storm, and the ever vicious RFD winds. The kinds of tornadoes that set themselves up for beautiful, tripod-able storms have their own rarity. The key is mobility - if a chaser takes the time to set up the tripod, that's one more step in the value stream of the chase.
Up until I seen a couple of the DOW computers running windows...no self respecting geek would use windows
to do a mans job.
Got Code?
The guy who is filming from the TIV (can't remember his name) annoys me. He whines about everything. And then the other guy they follow this season who sells his footage; his laugh sounds fake. Seriously, nobody laughs like that.
What's an F5?
One has to wonder how many times Dr. Wurman has read Bruce Sterling's "Heavy Weather"...