PSN-L Email List Message

Subject: Re: Seismic Signature of Tornadoes
From: Thomas Dick dickthomas01@.............
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:30:25 -0500


Yes, Randall, you are right.

Ten years ago I was looking for a shift in frequency as the tornado 
passes by like when a train passes by you blowing its whistle.  I didn't 
find that. But I have learned I can detect 60+ mph storms off the west 
coast, storms on the Great Lakes, and storms off the SE coast of 
Greenland and eastern Canada. I have also traced several hurricanes 200+ 
miles into the Gulf until they hit land. I traced the hurricane that hit 
Galveston way out into the Gulf to Galveston up within 100 miles of this 
location and off the east coast. I am sure the Ohio State grad students 
were not seeing the tornado at a frequency of .15 HZ .... probably, 
Great Lakes weather. If my equipment can detect winds less than 100 mph 
over 1000 miles away, why couldn't/shouldn't I detect a 150 MPH less 
than ten miles away.

You are thinking "what does he mean by trace"......I am talking about 
the "noise" switching from the E-W to the N-S Lehman or vice versa as 
the storm/disturbance moves a crossed an area while you remain 
stationary. Yes the wind varies with time of day and density of the air 
is also a factor....and will hide the important data. And I am not 
saying we are about to discover something better than radar. What I hope 
and encourage is this; we should look at our data with a renewed 
freshness. Larry's software gives us the ability to filter, separate and 
analyze ..... lets stop just looking at pretty phase displays and 
whether there is  pP and sP here where it should be or that P is late or 
early. Let's go back to basic research even if we are only hobbyists; 
after all look at the success of the Japanese amateur astronomers.

You know what the first tornado detector was fifty years ago when I 
started to teach. Turn your TV to an unused channel and watch for the 
screen to go white.....when it did, take shelter! Are you old enough to 
remember that era?  ....and that was a frequency detection issue. Tatom 
had an idea. Maybe the problem was that earthquake equipment and 
software didn't progress as fast as weather technology. Maybe, like me, 
there were too many irons in the fire at that time.

Well, it is time to get down off the soapbox now. I wanted to start a 
discussion and let personal viewpoints come out. It has. Maybe this 
discussion will continue in other places. Just maybe, some of you will 
look at your data a second time. My words are too sharp, I know and  I 
am sorry. I am not mad.

But what scares me is that my data on that tornado caused more interest 
from Chinese students than stateside. Basic research spends money and 
the risks are great that it won't go anywhere....today!
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