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Shallow Nation

May 13th, 2009 at 6:16 am

National Geographic: Disaster Lab: Into the Tornado (Video, Photos)

National Geographic Disaster Lab Into the Tornado

Here are National Geographic: Disaster Lab: Into the Tornado video and photos. The highly anticipated documentary airs on May 14, 2009 at 8 p.m. PT/ET on National Geographic channel.

The National Geographic Disaster Lab Into the Tornado documentary focuses on the work of storm chaser Tim Samaras. He is an electrical engineer and National Geographic grantee who has been chasing storms for almost 20 years, tornados in particular.

He is coauthor with Stefan Bechtel of a forthcoming book on his remarkable work, “Tornado Hunter: Getting Inside the Most Violent Storms on Earth,” published by National Geographic Books and available in stores May 19, 2009.

National Geographic Disaster Lab Into the Tornado

Photo: A tornado traveling through the mid-west United States. (Photo Credit © Abigail Pilgrim/ NGT )

Storm chasimg Tim Samaras literally describes what the scientist does for a living. In an interview, he explained the impetus for his passion and profession.

“It all started when I was about six years old and saw that fantastic tornado in The Wizard of Oz.” [...]

“My passion for storm chasing has always been driven by the beautiful and powerful storms displayed in the heartland each spring.”

Source: Tim Samaras, Severe-Storms Researcher

Several years ago, he designed a probe to measure drops in pressure inside a tornado; the probe must be placed inside the tornado, to see what is the condition that triggers a tornado’s extreme wind speeds.

In the tornado, literally! This data, collected with the probe literally has given the scientist a look inside inside a tornado at the lowest part of the twister; as this is where the most damage is done. Tim Samaras is the only person ever to collect video from inside a tornado. He also holds the Guinness World Record for this measurement. The techniques he has used in researching tornados have been used in other scientific disciplines. Samaras has two patents, numerous awards.

National Geographic Disaster Labs Into the Tornado

Photo: The Mobil Weather Unit blown into ditch while chasing a storm in the mid-west of the United States. (Photo Credit © Abigail Pilgrim/ NGT )

The National Geographic: Disaster Lab: Into the Tornado documentary follows the storm chaser Tim Samaras in the U.S. midwest region during tornado season, as he aims to measure the destructive force of a supercell storm. These storms can spawn tornados capable of unleashing winds up to 300 mph and hail the size of softballs.

Tim Samaras undertakes a high risk mission to deploy scientific devices inside and outside a storm in hopes of gathering a 3-D snapshot of information. Driving straight into superstorms to collect data means confronting the dangers of tornados, flooded roads, downed power lines, lightning and flying debris. If successful this could improve tornado warnings. Additionally, measuring the impact of hail strikes can help the passenger jet manufacturer Boeing increase aircraft safety.

Check out some National Geographic: Disaster Lab: Into the Tornado videos below.

Video “Tornado Probe” – Scientists venture extremely close to an oncoming tornado to drop probes that will gather internal data. Video Link

Video “Tornado Rescue” – In pursuit of a tornado, a car from the team is pushed off the road and must be rescued. Video Linkl