List of United States government meteorology research projects

This is a timeline and list of meteorology research projects conducted by or funded by the United States federal government.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

List

Project	Years	Organizations involved	Refs
Project Cirrus	1947	United States Army Signal Corps General Electric Office of Naval Research United States Air Force	[1] [2]
Project BATON	1962	United States Department of Defense United States Army Signal Corps Meteorology Research, Inc.	[3]
Project Stormfury	1962–1983	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	[4]
Operation Popeye	1967–1972	United States Air Force	[5]
TOtable Tornado Observatory (TOTO)	1979–1985	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Severe Storms Laboratory Environmental Technology Laboratory University of Oklahoma	[6]
Project NIMROD	1978	National Center for Atmospheric Research University of Chicago National Weather Service	[7]
TOGA	1985–1994	World Climate Research Programme World Meteorological Organization United Nations National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	[8]
ERICA	1988–1989	Ocean Prediction Center	[9]
GEWEX	1990–Present	World Climate Research Programme World Meteorological Organization United Nations National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	[10]
VORTEX1	1994–1995	National Severe Storms Laboratory National Weather Service University of Oklahoma	[11]
UAEREP	2001–Present	National Center for Meteorology National Center for Atmospheric Research University of the Witwatersrand NASA National Science Foundation (Funding only)	[12]
THORPEX	2003–Present	World Meteorological Organization United Nations National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	[13]
International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE)	2006	United States Department of Energy Bureau of Meteorology NASA European Commission DG RTD-1.2 University of Utah	[14] [15]
VORTEX2	2009–2010	National Severe Storms Laboratory National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center University of Oklahoma CIMMS University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Center for Severe Weather Research Bureau of Meteorology Environment Canada Office of Naval Research University of Massachusetts Amherst Texas Tech University National Center for Atmospheric Research National Science Foundation (Funding only)	[11] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
Recovering from Tornado Brain	2013–2024	University of Tennessee University of Missouri United States Department of Health and Human Services (Funding only)	[21]
OWLeS	2013–2014	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Wyoming Millersville University Hobart and William Smith Colleges University of Alabama in Huntsville Center for Severe Weather Research University of Utah State University of New York at Oswego University at Albany, SUNY Pennsylvania State University National Science Foundation (Funding only)	[22]
VORTEX-SE / VORTEX USA	2015–Present	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Severe Storms Laboratory University of Oklahoma University of Alabama in Huntsville National Science Foundation	[23] [24]
Warn-on-Forecast (WoF or WoFS)	2016–Present	National Severe Storms Laboratory University of Oklahoma	[25]
TORUS Project	2019–Present	National Severe Storms Laboratory Office of Marine and Aviation Operations University of Nebraska–Lincoln University of Oklahoma CIWRO Texas Tech University University of Colorado Boulder National Science Foundation (Funding only)	[26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]
PERiLS Project	2022–Present	National Severe Storms Laboratory NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory NOAA Global Systems Laboratory National Weather Service University of Oklahoma CIWRO University of Alabama in Huntsville University of Louisiana at Monroe Purdue University Texas Tech University Pennsylvania State University University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign North Carolina State University Stony Brook University National Science Foundation (Funding only)	[32] [33] [34] [35]

References

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2. Marquardt, Meg (20 June 2016). "Benchmarks: October 13, 1947: A disaster with Project Cirrus". Earth Magazine. American Geosciences Institute . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
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14. U.S. Climate Scientists Join Collaborators in Australia to Begin Tropical Cloud Experiment
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18. Coffer, Brice E.; Parker, Matthew D.; Dahl, Johannes M. L.; Wicker, Louis J.; Clark, Adam J. (November 2017). "Volatility of Tornadogenesis: An Ensemble of Simulated Nontornadic and Tornadic Supercells in VORTEX2 Environments". Monthly Weather Review . 145 (11): 4605–4625. Bibcode:2017MWRv..145.4605C. doi:10.1175/MWR-D-17-0152.1.
19. Elston, Jack S.; Roadman, Jason; Stachura, Maciej; Argrow, Brian; Houston, Adam; Frew, Eric (July 2011). "The tempest unmanned aircraft system for in situ observations of tornadic supercells: Design and VORTEX2 flight results". Journal of Field Robotics. 28 (4): 461–483. doi:10.1002/rob.20394 . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
20. "VORTEX2: TheSecond Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment" (PDF). October 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
21. First, Jennifer M.; Carnahan, Megan; Yu, Mansoo; Lee, Sangwon; Houston, J. Brian (19 February 2024). "'Recovering from Tornado Brain': A Qualitative Analysis of Long-Term Needs after One of the Deadliest Tornadoes in U.S. History". Clinical Social Work Journal . The University of Tennessee and University of Missouri via Springer Science+Business Media: 1–11. doi:10.1007/s10615-024-00926-1. ISSN   1573-3343 . Retrieved 5 April 2024.
22. Mulholland, Jake P.; Frame, Jeffrey; Nesbitt, Stephen W.; Steiger, Scott M.; Kosiba, Karen A.; Wurman, Joshua (August 2017). "Observations of Misovortices within a Long-Lake-Axis-Parallel Lake-Effect Snowband during the OWLeS Project". Monthly Weather Review . 145 (8): 3265–3291. Bibcode:2017MWRv..145.3265M. doi:10.1175/MWR-D-16-0430.1 . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
23. National Severe Storms Laboratory. "VORTEX Southeast / VORTEX USA". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
24. Lyza, Anthony W.; Goudeau, Barrett T.; Knupp, Kevin R. (2022). "Damage Analysis and Close-Range Radar Observations of the 13 April 2019 Greenwood Springs, Mississippi, Tornado during VORTEX-SE Meso18-19". Monthly Weather Review. 150 (7): 1873–1893. Bibcode:2022MWRv..150.1873L. doi: 10.1175/MWR-D-21-0281.1 .
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31. Freedman, Andrew (16 May 2019). "Researchers deploy drones, hurricane hunter to uncover tornado formation secrets". Axios . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
32. National Severe Storms Laboratory. "PERiLS: Propagation, Evolution, and Rotation in Linear Storms". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
33. Kosiba, Karen A.; Lyza, Anthony W.; Trapp, Robert J.; Rasmussen, Erik N.; Parker, Matthew; Biggerstaff, Michael I.; Nesbitt, Stephen W.; Weiss, Christopher C.; Wurman, Joshua; Knupp, Kevin R.; Coffer, Brice; Chmielewski, Vanna C.; Dawson, Daniel T.; Bruning, Eric; Bell, Tyler M.; Coniglio, Michael C.; Murphy, Todd A.; French, Michael; Blind-Doskocil, Leanne; Reinhart, Anthony E.; Wolff, Edward; Schneider, Morgan E.; Silcott, Miranda; Smith, Elizabeth; Aikins, Joshua; Wagner, Melissa; Robinson, Paul; Wilczak, James M.; White, Trevor; Diedrichsen, Madeline R.; Bodine, David; Kumjian, Matthew R.; Waugh, Sean M.; Alford, A. Addison; Elmore, Kim; Kollias, Pavlos; Turner, David D. (October 2024). "The Propagation, Evolution, and Rotation in Linear Storms (PERiLS) Project". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society . 105 (10). American Meteorological Society: E1768 –E1799. Bibcode:2024BAMS..105E1768K. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0064.1 . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
34. Ostaszewski, Joshua (August 2023). "Assessment of Spatial-Temporal Heterogeneities in Quasi-Linear Convective System Cold Pools during the PERiLS Field Project". Texas Tech University . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
35. Bryant, Kieth (11 June 2022). "Inside PERiLS: Studying tornadoes up close". Spectrum News . Retrieved 11 March 2025.