Title
Crowd-sourcing the El Reno 2013 Tornado: A new approach for collation and display of storm chaser imagery for scientific applications
Author(s)
Seimon, A.;Allen, J.;Seimon, T. ;Talbot, S.;Hoadley, D.
Published
2016
Publisher
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Abstract
The 31 May, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma tornado is used to demonstrate how a video imagery database crowd-sourced from storm chasers can be time-corrected and geo- referenced to inform severe storm research. The tornado’s exceptional magnitude (~4.3km diameter and ~135m s-1 30 winds) and the wealth of observational data highlight this storm as a subject for scientific investigation. The storm was documented by mobile research and fixed-base radars, lightning detection networks, and post-storm damage surveys. In addition, more than 250 individuals and groups of storm chasers navigating the tornado captured imagery, constituting a largely untapped resource for scientific investigation. The El Reno Survey was created to crowd-source imagery from storm chasers, and to compile submitted materials in a quality-controlled, open-access research database. Solicitations to storm chasers via social media and email yielded 93 registrants, each contributing still and/or video imagery and metadata. Lightning flash interval is used for precise time calibration of contributed video imagery; when combined with geo- referencing from open-source geographical information software, this enables detailed mapping of storm phenomena. A representative set of examples is presented to illustrate how this standardized database and a web-based visualization tool can inform research on tornadoes, lightning and hail. The project database offers the largest archive of visual material compiled for a single storm event, accessible to the scientific community through a registration process. This approach also offers a new model for post-storm data collection, with instructional materials created to facilitate replication for research into both past and future storm events.

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PUB19174