Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) measurements during the 2016 Verifications of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment Southeast (VORTEX-SE)

This report describes the operation of NOAA/ARL/ATDD’s DJI S-1000 small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) in the Verifications of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment Southeast (VORTEX-SE) in the spring of 2016. The S-1000 was used to measure temperature and humidity profiles in the lower 125-213 m of the atmosphere, and map the Earth’s skin temperature during three intensive observation periods (13 March, 24 March, and 27 April) in the VORTEX-SE experiment. Additionally, the S-1000 was used to perform a damage survey from an EF-2 tornado that occurred within the VORTEX-SE domain on 31 March 2016.