Featured on Discovery Channel’s popular Storm Chasers television series, the TornadoVideos.net (TVN) team specializes in extreme weather research and broadcast weather video. Led by meteorologist and Ph.D. candidate Reed Timmer, the team’s recent projects focus on sampling the turbulent core-flow region of tornadoes from the safety of their specially-designed armored research vehicle, affectionately known as The Dominator.
Using a customized radar and an elaborate meteorological probe cannon system attached to the vehicle, the team has been able to collect unprecedented vertical and horizontal wind data from inside nearly a dozen tornadoes since 2009, the ultimate goal being to use their data to help engineers design structures that can better-withstand tornadic winds.
TVN’s mission depends heavily on their Havis products performing as expected. A Havis XFR Docking Station is conveniently situated in the cockpit of the Dominator, allowing Reed to focus on time-critical navigational command decisions and data analysis without compromising his work space.
Similarly, TVN’s Chris Chittick trusts the Havis Universal Laptop Mount as the cradle for the most important piece of equipment in his mobile research lab, as he operates the team’s radar and monitors instrumentation probes in real-time, a task he fulfills from his mobile work station in the Dominator’s rear.
With over 50,000 miles of storm chasing in 2011 alone, Havis mounts have passed the TVN durability test in some of the harshest work environments imaginable, and TVN looks forward to continuing their mission with Havis products for years to come.
