Tornado vortex signature

Strong mesocyclone on a thunderstorm near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, that was analyzed as fitting the characteristics of a TVS. It was associated with a tornado.

A tornadic vortex signature, abbreviated TVS, is a Pulse-Doppler radar weather radar detected rotation algorithm that indicates the likely presence of a strong mesocyclone that is in some stage of tornadogenesis.[1] It may give meteorologists the ability to pinpoint and track the location of tornadic rotation within a larger storm, and is one component of the National Weather Service's warning operations.[2]

The tornadic vortex signature was first identified by Donald W. Burgess, Leslie R. Lemon, and Rodger A. Brown in the 1970s using experimental Doppler radar at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma. The National Weather Service (NWS) now uses an updated algorithm developed by NSSL, the tornado detection algorithm (TDA) based on data from its WSR-88D system of radars. NSSL also developed the mesocyclone detection algorithm (MDA).[3]

  1. ^ WSR-88D Distance Learning Operations Course, slides 3 & 4
  2. ^ "NWS Radar: Key Indicators in Warning Decisions". National Weather Service.
  3. ^ "Tornado Detection". Severe Weather 101. National Severe Storms Laboratory. Retrieved 2014-05-17.