OSU researching drone to intercept tornadoes, collect data

“Twisters” hit theaters Friday and in a certain scene, some storm chasers launch a small aircraft into a tornado to collect data.

STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) - “Twisters” hit theaters Friday and in a certain scene, some storm chasers launch a small aircraft into a tornado to collect data.

You know what? That’s not Hollywood theatrics either. Actual research like that is happening here in Oklahoma and it could end up being key to protecting families across the country.

When you normally think of drones, you probably think of a smaller aircraft with small propellers around it. But the one’s they use for tornado intercepting are much bigger and they go a lot faster to intercept tornado’s.

They give pilots a birds eye view in the sky and are only a few feet in wingspan. The one at Oklahoma State University’s Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE) is made of the same material as bulletproof vests. It can also fly 150 mph and up to 10 miles away. It’s job is to fly close to tornado’s to collect data in hopes of better predicting when the ingredients are there for a tornado to drop from a storm.

"This is a thing that's been in gestation for, you know, not just years, but decades to have this capability,” Executive Director of OAIRE at OSU Jamey Jacob, Ph.D., said.

Jacob and students there work on numerous drone projects. As a native Oklahoman, he said he’s worked on this since his undergraduate studies.

"Storms are in our DNA right?” he said. “So, it's kind of really ingrained in us to be able to, you know, understand this phenomenon better."

The aircraft can be launched by hand or by a moving car. Computers inside and sensors on the wings collect the data, which they take and feed into the forecasting algorithms of the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There’s also high hopes for more real time work in the future.

"We're going to be able to use these systems to tell when a tornado is going to happen, you know, minutes to hours before it actually occurs,” Jacob said.

Jacob said that the particular aircraft in this story has not flown in a tornado scenario yet since they’re just now getting to where they can start doing that. He said that’s what makes it quite timely as the movie hit theaters Friday.