[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 21387-21388]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS LABORATORY 40TH ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, in Oklahoma, we know the importance of 
predicting and tracking severe weather. Each spring, during tornado 
season, people in Oklahoma brace themselves for dangerous storms. 
However, instead of hiding in the dark, like they used to do, today, 
they can depend on a stellar source for up-to-date, real-time 
information. The National Severe Storms

[[Page 21388]]

Labs NSSL has played a vital role in providing research for predicting 
and tracking this harmful weather. In light of this, I rise today to 
recognize the 40th anniversary of the vital office of the NSSL within 
the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmoheric 
Administration, in Norman, Oklahoma.
  The National Severe Storms Laboratory was established in 1964 and 
leads the way in investigations of all aspects of severe and hazardous 
weather. NSSL is a vital part of NOAA Research and the only federally 
supported laboratory focused on severe weather. The lab's scientists 
and staff constantly explore new ways to improve understanding of the 
causes of severe weather and ways to use weather information to assist 
National Weather Service, NWS, forecasters, as well as Federal, 
uiversity and private sector partners.
  These scientists are working on ways to improve short-term weather 
forecasting computer models for the National Weather Service's basic 
tornado research to understand how tornadoes form, as well as real-time 
delivery of radar data to the meteorological community and interested 
partners. Research at NSSL has led to greater knowledge and improved 
forecasts of tornadoes, flash floods, damaging winds, hail, lightning, 
heavy snow, ice and freezing rain.
  Early on, NSSL researchers recognized the potential of Doppler radar 
to improve the detection and warning of severe weather. NSSL built the 
first real-time displays of Doppler velocity data, which led to 
discoveries of tornado-related radar ``signatures.'' The successful 
demonstration that Doppler radar could help forecasters provide much 
improved severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings led to the deployment 
of the Next Generation Weather Radar, NEXRAD, WSR-88D, network of 
Doppler radars throughout the United States. This important 
contribution to the Nation was recognized by a Department of Commerce 
gold medal award, and was the only NOAA research laboratory so 
recognized.
  NSSL continues to be a pioneer in the development of weather radar. 
The lab is working with the NWS to deploy dual polarization, a planned 
upgrade to the current NEXRAD Doppler radar hardware that provides more 
information about precipitation in clouds to better distinguish between 
rain, ice, hail and mixtures. Such information will help forecasters 
provide better forecasts and warnings for flash floods, the number one 
severe weather threat to human life.
  In addition, NSSL researchers are adapting state-of-the-art radar 
technology currently deployed on Navy ships for use in tracking severe 
weather. Phased array radar reduces the scan or data collection time 
from 5 or 6 minutes to less than 1 minute, potentially extending the 
lead time for tornado warnings beyond the current average of 12 
minutes. When combined with other technology being developed at NSSL, 
warning lead times may be extended even farther.
  Recently, NSSL collaborated with the University of Oklahoma, Texas 
Tech, and Texas A&M University to build two new 5-cm mobile Doppler 
radars. These SMART-Radars--Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and 
Teaching Radars--are capable of scanning and penetrating an entire 
tornadic storm or hurricane, providing critical data needed to 
understand the mysteries of how tornadoes form and for eventually 
improving severe storm forecasts and warnings.
  During the past few years, scientists from NSSL completed several 
field experiments to study severe and hazardous weather. In 2003 and 
2004, researchers launched weather balloons loaded with instruments 
into thunderstorms during the Thunderstorm Electrification and 
Lightning Experiment, or TELEX. The lightning observations they made 
will be used to improve forecasts and warnings of hazardous weather. In 
2002, NSSL hosted the International H2O Project or IHOP, one of the 
largest weather-related studies ever conducted in the U.S.
  NSSL has a research partnership with the Cooperative Institute for 
Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, a cooperative institute between the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of 
Oklahoma. Additionally, NSSL conducts collaborative research with other 
NOAH laboratories including the Forecast Systems Laboratory, the 
Environmental Technologies Laboratory, and the Great Lakes 
Environmental Research Laboratory, as well as the U.S. Navy, Air Force, 
Army, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, 
Texas A&M, Texas Tech University, Lockheed Martin, Basic Commerce and 
Industries, Weather Decision Technologies, WeatherNews International, 
Inc., WeatherData, Inc., and Salt River Project.
  I congratulate the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, OK, 
on their first 40 years. Based on their performance since 1964, I 
believe we can expect many more years of pioneering scientific research 
from this outstanding institution, their academic, government and 
private sector partners, and their many scientists and technicians.

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