Archived News

Hurricane Sandy deployment summary information is available on our official Hurricane Sandy page.

TTUHRT members Drs. Tanya Brown, Brian Hirth, Ian Giammanco, and John Schroeder have journal articles published

Several members of the TTUHRT have had their worked published in various journals this year. Dr. Tanya Brown and fellow co-authors Drs. Daan Liang and Arn Womble are expecting their paper titled "Predicting Ground-Based Damage States from Windstorms Using Remote-Sensing Imagery" to be published in Wind and Structures this month. Dr. Ian Giammanco and fellow co-authors Drs. John Schroeder and Mark Powell had a paper titled "GPS Dropwindsonde and WSR-88D Observations of Tropical Cyclone Vertical Wind Profiles and their Characteristics" published in Weather and Forecasting . Dr. Brian Hirth and fellow co-authors Drs. John Schroeder, Chris Weiss, Doug Smith, and Michael Biggerstaff also had a paper titled "Research Radar Analyses of the Internal Boundary Layer over Cape Canaveral, FL during the landfall of Hurricane Frances (2004)" published in Weather and Forecasting . Congratulations to all of the TTUHRT members on their recent success.

TTUHRT deploys StickNet fleet for Hurricane Isaac August 24-September 1

TTUHRT members Scott Gunter and Rich Krupar III deploy StickNet probe 0213A in Luling, LA. Photo by Ian Giammanco.

Hurricane Isaac made landfall for the first time on the evening of August 28th near the mouth of the Mississippi River as a Category 1 hurricane. Isaac made landfall again early in the morning on August 29th near Port Fourchon, LA. Due to the slow forward motion and large wind field, extensive rainfall totals and high storm surge were experienced by many residents of Louisiana and Mississippi. Several StickNets were placed near the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontratrain, as well as, points further inland across Louisiana and Mississippi in an attempt to collect marine exposure observations and document the large wind field. TTUHRT coordinated deployments with other joint partners of the Digital Hurricane Consortium and more information regarding the StickNet deployment can be found on our Hurricane Isaac data summary page.

3rd American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop - August 12-14, 2012

The Wind Science and Engineering Research Center posted a strong showing at the 3rd American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop in Hyannis, MA with many former faculty and graduate students, as well as, current faculty and graduate students in attendance. Both current and former members of the TTUHRT, including Director Dr. John Schroeder, Student Field Coordinator Rich Krupar III, Ph.D. student Scott Gunter, and Dr. Frank Lombardo of NIST gave presentations on their current research. The workshop is the third in a series of meetings held roughly every eighteen months to provide graduate students, faculty, and industry representatives with an opportunity to present research in an informal setting and receive feedback from an experienced and diverse audience.

American Meteorological Society 30th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology - April 15-20, 2012

TTUHRT Director Dr. John Schroeder and scientists Dr. Ian Giammanco, Dr. Brian Hirth, and Rich Krupar III attended the American Meteorological Society 30th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Dr. Ian Gimmanco presented his post-doctoral work regarding near-surface wind flow characteristics of Gulf Coast hurricanes. In particular, he utilized WEMITE, StickNet, FCMP, and WSR-88D data to investigate gust factors, turbulence intensity, longitudinal integral scales, and precipitation structure in several landfalling Gulf Coast events. Dr. Brian Hirth presented his doctoral research, which focused on the coastal transition zone observed during Hurricane Frances (2004) using data from SMART-Radars and dual-Doppler wind field analysis techniques. A small contingent of Texas Tech Univeristy alumni were in attendance, including Tim Marshall and Drs. Sylvie Lorsolo and Brian Zachry.

Severe Weather Awareness Day at the Lubbock Science Spectrum - February 25, 2012

Members of the Texas Tech University Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, WISE Ph. D. students, KCBD News Channel 11, the Lubbock National Weather Serivce, State Farm Insurance, Lubbock Police Department, and the Red Cross put on the 6th Annual Severe Weather Awareness Day at the Lubbock Science Spectrum. The event attracted in over 1,500 attendees of all ages and focused on educating the public on how to stay safe in severe weather. TTUHRT Director Dr. John Schroeder and the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center were presented a $25,000 contribution from State Farm Insurance toward continuing research on the characteristics of severe wind storms and public outreach regarding wind hazards. State Farm has been a strong supporter of TTUHRT field deployments and efforts to understand the characteristics of tropical cyclone wind fields at landfall.

TTUKA-2 Nearing Operational Status - March 9, 2010
The hardware work has been completed on Texas Tech's second Ka-band Doppler radar system (TTUKA-2) and testing has begun on the radar system. The radar is teh second of 2 state-of-the art Ka-band mobile Doppler systems. The tow are the first mobile Ka-band research radars in the world. Both systems were funded through a research grant from Texas Tech's Office of the Vice President for Research. TTUKA-2 will be fully operational for the upcomming 2010 edition of the VORTEX 2 field project.

Lubbock's 4th Annual Severe Weather Awareness Day - February 27, 2010
The Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society at Texas Tech along with the National Weather Service, KCBD News Channel 11, and the Science Spectrum hosted Lubbock's 4th annual severe weather awareness day on February 27. The event wrapped up the National Weather Service's severe weather awareness week. Activities included hands-on weather experiments for kids of all ages, live demonstrations, information on severe weather preparedness, and door prizes. Instrumentation, including StickNet Trailer 2 and the TTUKA-1 mobile Doppler radar were on display for the general public. The National Weather Service, whose regional offices are located in the Science Spectrum building,provided a certified Storm Spotter Training seminar and guided tours of their offices to the general public. Over 1200 people attended the 6 hour event.

TTUHRT Research Presented at the 2010 Lubbock Severe Weather Conference - February 17-19, 2010
Graduate students Ian Giammanco (Wind Engineering) and Scott Gunter (Atmospheric Science) presented their ongoing research at the 2010 Lubbock Severe Weather Conference. The conference was co-hosted by the National Weather Service and Texas Tech University. Giammanco discussed the uses of the WSR-88D Doppler radar system to derive hurricane boundary layer wind profiles and provided some examples from his research. Scott Gunter discussed some preliminary results of a dual-Doppler analysis of rainband features during Hurricane Frances (2004). Conference participants were also given a tour of the Wind Science and Engineering Research facility at Reese Technology Center.

Justin Weaver, Meteorologist-in-charge at the Lubbock WFO, opens the 2010 Lubbock Severe Weather Conference.

Tropical Storm Ida deployment featured in
Live Science - Research in Action

TTUHRT Deploys StickNets and TTUKA-1 for Tropical Storm Ida
November 9-10, 2009

TTUHRT member Tanya Brown inspects a StickNet probe following Tropical Storm Ida. Photo by Ian Giammanco.

Tropical Storm Ida made landfall near Dauphin Island, AL on November 10, 2009. Ida marked the first deployment of Texas Tech's new Ka-band mobile Doppler radar system into a landfalling tropical cyclone. TTUKA-1 collected approximately 8 hours of radar data from marine exposure from Gulf Shores, AL. In addition, seven StickNets were deployed from Dauphin Island eastward through Orange Beach in an effort to collect data from the immediate shoreline. Both instrument platforms were able to observe the beginning of Ida's transition to an extra-tropical system. TTUHRT coordinated deployments with other Digital Hurricane Consortium groups. For summary data collected from StickNet probes during Tropical Storm Ida please see our Tropical Storm Ida page.

Osher Lifelong Learners Institute Tours Wind Science and Engineering Research Center's Reese Facility.
October 2, 2009

TTUHRT member Tanya Brown discusses the StickNet platforms and the TTUHRT deployment for Hurricane Ike with members of the Osher Lifelong Learners Institute. Photo by Ian Giammanco.

The Osher Lifelong Learners Institute toured the Wind Science and Engineering Resse Technology Center facility. The group participated in instrumentation displays featuring TTUHRT's StickNet platforms as well as the new TTUKA-1 and TTUKA-2 mobile Doppler radars. The tour was led by TTUHRT member Brian Hirth. In addition, TTUHRT member Tanya Brown provided background information on past deployments, including VORTEX 2 and Hurricane Ike in 2008 while radar engineer Jerry Guynes discussed the new technologies employed during the development of the new radar systems.

Hurricane Bill becomes the season's first - August 16, 2009

Infrared satellite image of Hurricane Bill at 1415 UTC on August 17 2009. Image courtesy of NOAA.

StickNet probes deployed for hurricane testing at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center's field site. In the back ground is the Reese Center West Texas Mesonet observing station. Photo by Ian Giammanco.

TTUHRT Wrapping up Preparations for 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season
July 2009

Following a sucessful VORTEX 2 field campaign, TTUHRT instrumentation is in the process of being readied for the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Team members have been working to complete instrumentation maintenance and repairs following exhaustive use during the VORTEX 2 field project. NOAA and Colorado State University both predict a near normal hurricane season, due in part to a developing weak El Nino event which is projected to take hold during the peak of the hurricane season.

TTUHRT featured in Live Science - Behind the Scenes

TTUHRT Participates in the Governor's Homeland Security and Hurricane Conference
March, 23-26 2009

TTUHRT instrumentation, including a StickNet trailer and TTU-Ka 1 Mobile radar were on display in San Antonio as part of the Governor's Homeland Security and Hurricane Conference. TTUHRT director, Dr. John Schroeder also co-chaired a workshop on how hurricanes are measured and understanding the limitations of the Safir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Also part of the Texas Tech exhibit was information on the West Texas Mesonet , the history of the Texas Tech Hurricane Research Team, a real-time display from a StickNet probe, and information on TTUHRT deployments during the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

TTUHRT Participates in the First Digital Hurricane Symposium
Jan 5-6, 2009

Photo of TTU Stick-Net Probes and graduate students Ian Giammanco and Brian Hirth fielding questions during the Digital Hurricane Symposium. The NOAA XP Mobile Radar is in the background

TTUHRT participated in the first Digital Hurricane Symposium hosted by Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge Louisiana. The symposium was focused on establishing concentrated efforts to mitigate the effects of landfalling hurricanes through coordinated research efforts. Attendees represented a wide range of entities from Academia, Governement Laboratories, as well as the private sector. TTUHRT was 1 of several groups which displayed their field instrumentation. Stick-Net trailer 2 as well as several probes were on display and TTU-Ka 1 was also on display during the symposium, which was open to attendees as well as the general public. A photo gallery of the instrumentation display can be found HERE . The symposium was the first of its kind, bringing together many different disciplines in order to help mitigate the effects of hurricanes on life and property through coordinated research. Sponsors of the event were Risk Management Solutions and Engensus Engineering Consulting

Former TTUHRT Member Flys with NOAA Hurricane Hunters
July - 2008

TTU graduate Dr. Sylvie Lorsolo at the radar/dropwindsonde console onboard a NOAA P-3 Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Photo by Mike Black.

Former Atmospheric Science student Sylvie Lorsolo made her first flight with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters on July 22. Lorsolo made three flights into Hurricane Dolly as the radar scientist onboard the NOAA P-3 aircraft. Dr. Lorsolo earned her PhD in Atmospheric Science from Texas Tech in 2006. Her research focused on using SMART-Radar data to document coherent turbulent structures in the hurricane boundary layer. She was a part of the TTUHRT SMART-Radar and tower deployment teams for Hurricane Isabel (2003) and Hurricane Frances (2004). Lorsolo, a native of Martinque, is a research scientist at the University of Miami and NOAA Hurricane Research Division.

TTUHRT is dedicated to mitigating the effects of landfalling hurricanes on life and property

Texas Tech Hurricane Research Team

Affiliations at TTU

Archived News