TVN Tornado Probe
The TVN Tornado Probe was designed in 2008 to capture high resolution video and weather data from inside tornadoes, including wind speed and direction, temperature, barometric pressure, and relative humidity. Weighing in at 300 pounds and equipped with a bullet-proof Lexan bubble to house the electronics, the TVN Tornado Probe can withstand the wind and debris from most tornadoes. The motivation in adding an HD camcorder to the probe is to capture high quality video of the fine-scale structure within a tornado, and especially the multiple vortices that rotate within the parent vortex. The weather data retrieved by the TVN Tornado Probe will be used for research purposes and will hopefully help us better understand one of the most powerful natural phenomena on the planet. The video at right outlines the components of the probe and shows the deployment process as a damaging tornado was bearing down on us in Northern Kansas on May 29, 2008. Check out the video archive below which includes footage from all our successful TVN Tornado Probe intercepts! Hopefully we will continue to build on this footage and data archive for years to come, as we combine our passion for getting close to violent tornadoes with ground-breaking scientific research.
 Completed probe |
 Deploying the TVN Tornado Probe |
 Deployed from storm chase vehicle |
 Deployed from storm chase vehicle |
 Construction Phase |
 Construction Phase |
 Construction Finalized! |
 First tornado intercepted! May 29, 2008 just east of Osborne, KS |
