My dissertation work was published in Applied Mathematics and Computation, and involves the estimation of near surface wind structures in a tornadic vortex, in the presence of tornado scale dual doppler wind speed measurements. With dual doppler measurements, we can retrieve accurate radial and tangential components of the tornado’s velocity (viewed in cylindrical coordinates about the center of the vortex). By employing parametric models for the tangential component of velocity, we use simplified dynamics to estimate the radial and vertical velocities below the radar horizon. In the presence of noisy measurements, we can estimate the uncertainty involved, and give a posterior distribution of the velocity vector, conditioned on the parametric tangential model fit. This framework allows us to ask quantitative questions about the strength of prominent physical features in vortical flows, such as the inflow generated by the weakening of the swirling flow by friction at the ground. This work has been published by LAP Academic Publishers as a monograph, and is available for purchase on Amazon.
Sean M. R. Crowell 
