UAH adds Colorado weather team to mobile research fleet

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) says the addition of a new wealth research team will make it the largest mobile radar facility in the United States.

UAH says it is adding the Boulder, Colorado-based Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets (FARM) team to its deployable weather research fleet at its Severe Weather Institute – Radar and Lightning Laboratories.

“The addition of the FARM facility to the existing MAPNet facility marks a monumental milestone for UAH, establishing it as the largest and most comprehensive mobile radar, profiler, and observing facility in the United States,” said Dr. Kevin Knupp, principal research scientist in the UAH Earth System Science Center (ESSC). “This addition makes UAH a clear leader in meteorological field research.”

The university said SWIRLL is a major resource for educational initiatives, student research and weather projects. SWIRLL has long leveraged its strategic location in the Southeast but with FARM’s addition, it is expanding operations to the Great Plains and Midwest.

UAH said the FARM team, made up of seven full-time employees and two part-time workers is headed up by experienced researchers Dr. Josh Wurman and Dr. Karen Kosiba. Wurman is a pioneer in mobile radar technology while Kosiba has spent 20 years taking part in severe weather research.

‘With the world-class expertise of Drs. Wurman and Kosiba along with UAH’s considerable infrastructure and scientists, UAH is set to be a leader in the next generation of high-impact weather research,” says Dr. John Christy, Director of the UAH’s ESSC.

According to the university, FARM radars have mapped out 250 tornadoes and 18 landfilling hurricanes, making several discoveries about how storms evolve and cause damage. The system has also been used on various other projects all over the world.

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