Image: Dr. Chris Peterson was recently awarded a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), along with co-PIs Dr. Frank Lombardo of the University of Illinois and Dr. Chris Godfrey of the University of North Carolina-Asheville. Lombardo is a structural engineer, Godfrey is a meteorologist and Peterson specializes in forest wind disturbance and regeneration; they will combine their three areas of expertise to study the spatial distribution of debris from buildings and trees after tornado damage occurs to retrospectively infer characteristics of the tornado. The funding comes from a one-time research initiative at NOAA, called VORTEX-SE, which is funding detailed studies of tornado meteorology across the Southeast.
