Research
At Texas Tech our research focus includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Thunderstorms (convective initiation, tornadogenesis, lightning)
- Hurricanes (wind flow characteristics and boundary layer structure)
(Click the image to the right to view the Hurricane Research Team web site) - Numerical Weather Prediction and Data Assimilation
- Boundary Layer Processes
- Wind Power Meteorology
- Observational Networks
- Dust Storms
- Doppler Radar
To enhance both research and teaching, faculty and students utilize several modern observational tools including
- The West Texas Mesonet consisting of nearly 60 instrumented sites across west Texas and eastern New Mexico
- Two high resolution Ka-band mobile Doppler radars , the first of its kind.
- A large array of portable, rapid-deployable observing platforms called Stick-Nets
- VorTECH - A 10 meter diameter chamber to simulate velocity and pressure profiles of tornado-like vortices.
- A 200 meter instrumented tower
- A fleet of five Mobile Mesonets
- A radiosonde platform
- A 900 MHz lower-troposphere wind profiler
In addition, students and faculty may access the Measurements and Analysis Laboratory and the High Performance Computing Center.
The Atmospheric Science Group maintains a close working relationship with the National Wind Institute at Tech.
The local National Weather Service Forecast Office affords an opportunity for faculty and students to interact with operational forecasters.