Crowdsourcing the El Reno 2013 Tornado: A New Approach for Collation and Display of Storm Chaser Imagery for Scientific Applications

Abstract

Abstract The 31 May 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado is used to demonstrate how a video imagery database crowdsourced from storm chasers can be time-corrected and georeferenced to inform severe storm research. The tornado’s exceptional magnitude (∼4.3-km diameter and ∼135 m s−1 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 poststorm 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 crowdsource 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 e-mail 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 georeferencing 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 poststorm data collection, with instructional materials created to facilitate replication for research into both past and future storm events.