Journal article
Kinetic Energy of Tornadoes in the United States
PloS one, Vol.10(7), 0131090
07/2015
PMID: 26132830
Web of Science ID: WOS:000358153000092
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Abstract
Tornadoes can cause catastrophic destruction. Here total kinetic energy (TKE) as a metric of destruction is computed from the fraction of the tornado path experiencing various damage levels and a characteristic wind speed for each level. The fraction of the path is obtained from a model developed for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that combines theory with empirical data. TKE is validated as a useful metric by comparing it to other indexes and loss indicators. Half of all tornadoes have TKE exceeding 62.1 GJ and a quarter have TKE exceeding 383.2 GJ. One percent of the tornadoes have TKE exceeding 31.9 TJ. April has more energy than May with fewer tornadoes; March has more energy than June with half as many tornadoes. September has the least energy but November and December have the fewest tornadoes. Alabama ranks number one in terms of tornado energy with 2.48 PJ over the period 2007-2013. TKE can be used to help better understand the changing nature of tornado activity.
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Details
- Title
- Kinetic Energy of Tornadoes in the United States
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.10(7), 0131090
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- PloS
- Number of pages
- 12
- Copyright
- © 2015 Fricker, Elsner.
- Identifiers
- WOS:000358153000092; 99381529841806600
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English