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Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Dr. Robin Tanamachi

Associate Professor Dr. Robin Tanamachi

rtanamachi@purdue.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Associated website(s):
Google Scholar , Atmospheric Science

Education
  • Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology, 2011
  • M.S., University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology, 2004
  • B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, 2001
Research Interests

Severe convective storms, Tornadoes, Doppler radar, Dual-polarized radar, Radar data analysis, High-resolution numerical modeling of convective storms and tornadoes, Radar data assimilation, Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKf) technique, Mesoscale meteorology, Atmospheric radiometry, Infrared thermography, Atmospheric undular bores

Professional Experience
Funding

Co-principal investigator: Improved Understanding of Tornado Development and Risk using Models and Observations from VORTEX-SE, NOAA/DOC, $192,901, September 2015 – August 2016.

Teaching
  • 2016 Spring: Purdue University, Radar Meteorology (EAPS 52300)
  • 2016 Spring: Purdue University, Special Topics: VORTEX-SE Field Research (EAPS 39100, Section 33)
  • 2015 Fall: Purdue University, Atmospheric Instruments and Observations (EAPS 53500)
  • 2015 Mentor, University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology, Senior Capstone (METR 4911 & 4922)
  • 2012 Instructor, University of Oklahoma, Radar Meteorology Training Workshop for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency
  • 2007 Spring: University of Oklahoma: Severe and Unusual Weather (METR 2603)
Honors and Awards
  • Teaching Honor Roll, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University. 2015.
  • Postdoctoral fellowship, National Research Council, National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma. 2012-2014.
Memberships and Service
  • Associate Editor, Monthly Weather Review .
  • Reviewer for Journal of Atmospheric Science, Monthly Weather Review, Weather and Forecasting, Geophysical Research Letters, Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology, Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology, Atmosphere.
  • Undergraduate committee, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, 2015 – present.
Selected Publications - Google Scholar Page for a complete list of publications

Peer-reviewed publications • Conference Proceedings • Theses and Dissertations Listed in reverse chronological order.

Peer-reviewed publications:


Conference Preceedings
  1. Tanamachi, R. L., and P. L. Heinselman, 2015: Rapid-scan, dual-polarized observations of severe Oklahoma Thuberstorms on 31 May 2013. 37th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Norman, Iklahoma, American Meteorological Society, P107.
  2. Tanamachi, R. L., P. L. Heinselman, and L. J. Wicker, 2014: Investigation of a cell merger accompanying cyclic tornado production . 27th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Madison, Wisconsin, American Meteorological Society, 8A.5.
  3. Wood, V. T., R. L. Tanamachi, and L. White, 2014: A parametric wind-pressure relationship for concentric cyclostrophic vortices . 27th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Madison, Wisconsin, American Meteorological Society, P161.
  4. Tanamachi, R. L., P. L. Heinselman, L. J. Wicker, V. Lakshmanan, and D. L. Priegnitz, 2013: Objective identification and tracking of merging and splitting storms in the 24 May 2011 Oklahoma tornadic supercell outbreak . 36th Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Breckenridge, Colorado, American Meteorological Society, P389.
  5. Tanamachi, R. L., M. Xue, and Y. Jung, 2013: EnKF assimilation of single-elevation, near-surface radar data beneath a supercell: OSSE explorations . 36th Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Breckenridge, Colorado, American Meteorological Society, P378.
  6. Tanamachi, R. L., M. Xue, Y. Jung, K. A. Brewster, and M. I. Biggerstaff, 2012: EnKF assimilation of storm-scale, mobile Doppler radar data into high-resolution analyses of a weakly tornadic supercell . 26th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Nashville, Tennesee, American Meteorological Society, P168. ( Note: Wrong extended abstract linked at the above site. Here's the correct one: PDF .)
  7. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, K. A. Orzel, S. J. Frasier, and M. Xue, 2012: GBVTD-retrieved near-surface axisymmetric vortex structure in a tornado and tornado-like vortices observed by a W-band radar during VORTEX2 . 26th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Nashville, Tennessee, American Meteorological Society, 14.11.
  8. Tanamachi, R. L., Y. Jung, K. A. Brewster, M. Xue, and M. I. Biggerstaff, 2012: EnKF assimilation of storm-scale, mobile Doppler radar data for high-resolution analyses of a weakly tornadic supercell . 7th European Conf. on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology , Toulouse, France, Météo France, paper 379.
  9. Tanamachi, R. L., L. J. Wicker, D. C. Dowell, D. T. Dawson II, H. B. Bluestein, and M. Xue, 2012: EnKF assimilation of high-resolution, mobile Doppler radar data of the 4 May 2007 Greensburg, Kansas supercell storm into a numerical cloud model. 7th European Conf. on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology , Toulouse, France, Météo France, paper 378.
  10. Tanamachi, R. L., M. Wang, M. Xue, H. B. Bluestein, K. A. Orzel, and S. Frasier, 2012: GBVTD-retrieved near-surface vortex structure in a tornado and tornado-like vortices observed by a W-band radar during VORTEX2. 7th European Conf. on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology , Toulouse, France, Météo France, paper 377.
  11. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, W.-C. Lee, K. A. Orzel, and S. J. Frasier, 2011: GBVTD-retrieved vortex structure in the 26 May 2010 Prospect Valley, Colorado tornado-like vortices . 35th Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, American Meteorological Society, P57.
  12. Bluestein, H. B., V. Venkatesh, K. A. Orzel, I. PopStefanija, C. Baldi, R. L. Tanamachi, M. M. French, J. C. Snyder, J. B. Houser, S. J. Frasier, G. D. Emmitt, and R. Bluth, 2011: Mobile Doppler-radar data collected during year 2 of VORTEX2: The U. Mass. X-Pol and W-band radars and the Naval Postgraduate School MWR-05XP/TWOLF . 35th Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, American Meteorological Society, 7B.3.
  13. Houser, J. B., H. B. Bluestein, R. L. Tanamachi, K. M. Hardwick, and S. J. Frasier, 2011: Dual-Doppler analyses of the supercell that produced the Greensburg, KS tornado on 4 May 2007 . 35th Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, American Meteorological Society, P12.
  14. Tanamachi, R. L., D. C. Dowell, L. J. Wicker, H. B. Bluestein, S. J. Frasier, and K. M. Hardwick, 2010: Impact of initial environmental velocity profiles on numerical model-based storm-scale analyses of the 5 May 2007 Greensburg, Kansas tornadic storm . 25th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Denver, Colorado, American Meteorological Society, 3A.6.
  15. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, S. J. Frasier, and K. M. Hardwick, 2010: Evolution of the 4 May 2007 Greensburg, Kansas tornadic supercell storm as inferred from mobile, X-band Doppler radar observations . 25th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Denver, Colorado, American Meteorological Society, P8.18.
  16. Tanamachi, R. L., D. Dowell, L. J. Wicker, H. B. Bluestein, S. Frasier, and K. Hardwick, 2009: Numerical simulation of a cyclic tornadic thunderstorm augmented by EnKF assimilation of mobile Doppler radar data . 34th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Williamsburg, Virginia, American Meteorological Society, 14.11.
  17. Bluestein, H. B., M. M. French, J. C. Snyder, J. B. Houser, R. L. Tanamachi, I. PopStefanija, C. Baldi, G. D. Emmitt, V. Venkatesh, K. A. Orzel, R. Bluth, and S. J. Frasier, 2010: A summary of data collected during VORTEX-2 by MWR-05XP/TWOLF, UMass X-Pol, and the UMass W-band radar . 25th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Denver, Colorado, American Meteorological Society, 5.4.
  18. Tanamachi, R. L., L. J. Wicker, D. C. Dowell, H. B. Bluestein, S. J. Frasier, and K. M. Hardwick, 2008: X-band, mobile Doppler radar data collected in a tornadic thunderstorm: Data assimilation experiments . 24th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Savannah, Georgia, American Meteorological Society, 2.6.
  19. Tanamachi, R. L., R. Davies-Jones, H. B. Bluestein, D. C. Dowell, and H. Cai, 2008: Diagnostic calculations of motions of vertical velocity and low-level vertical vorticity maxima in radar data and numerically simulated supercell thunderstorms . 24th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Savannah, Georgia, American Meteorological Society, P3.10.
  20. Bluestein, H. B., K. Hardwick, M. Umscheid, R. L. Tanamachi, J. B. Houser, and S. Frasier, 2008: Polarimetric-radar signatures associated with the Greensburg, Kansas tornado . 24th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Savannah, Georgia, American Meteorological Society, 2.5.
  21. Bluestein, H. B., I. PopStefanija, V. Venkatesh, P. Tsai, R. L. Tanamachi, M. M. French, J. C. Snyder, J. B. Houser, D. T. Dawson II, C. Baldi, B. Seeger, S. J. Frasier, J. B. Knorr, and R. Bluth, 2008: Severe-storm data collected in the Southern Plains by three mobile Doppler radars during the spring, 2007 and 2008 . 24th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Savannah, Georgia, American Meteorological Society, 5.3.
  22. Tsai, P., S. Frasier, R. L. Tanamachi, and H. B. Bluestein, 2008: The UMass mobile W-Band Doppler radar: System overview and sample observations . 24th Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Savannah, Georgia, American Meteorological Society, P13.15.
  23. Bluestein, H. B., R. Bluth, J. B. Knorr, I. PopStefanija, B. Seeger, R. L. Tanamachi, J. B. Houser, J. C. Snyder, and M. M. French, 2008: Observations of severe convective storms with a mobile, phased-array, X-band Doppler radar . 88th AMS Annual Meeting , New Orleans, Louisiana, American Meteorological Society, P2.11.
  24. Bluestein, H. B., R. L. Tanamachi, M. M. French, J. B. Houser, J. C. Snyder, R. P. Bluth, J. Knorr, I. Popstefanjia, B. Seeger, C. Baldi, S. J. Frasier, and P. Tsai, 2007: Preliminary results from the fielding of a disparate triad of mobile Doppler radars to study severe convective storms . 33rd Int. Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Cairns, Australia, American Meteorological Society, 13A.12.
  25. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, M. Bell, and W.-C. Lee, 2006: Progress toward improved Ground-Based Velocity Track Display (GBVTD) analysis of mobile Doppler radar data collected in tornadoes . 23rd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , St. Louis, Missouri, American Meteorological Society, P9.3.
  26. Bluestein, H. B., C. C. Weiss, M. M. French, E. M. Holthaus, R. L. Tanamachi, S. J. Frasier, and A. L. Pazmany, 2006: High-resolution structure of tornadoes in south-central Kansas on 12 May 2004: Analysis of mobile Doppler radar data . 23rd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , St. Louis, Missouri, American Meteorological Society, 15.13.
  27. Snyder, J. C., R. L. Tanamachi, H. B. Bluestein, W.-C. Lee, M. Bell, and A. Pazmany, 2006: Reconstruction of wind profiles in dust devils: Analyses of W-band mobile radar data using the Ground-Based Velocity Track Display (GBVTD) technique . 23rd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , St. Louis, Missouri, American Meteorological Society, P9.6.
  28. Wood, V. T., L. White, C. Alexander, and R. L. Tanamachi, 2006: An analytical model of one- and two-celled vortices: preliminary testing . 23rd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , St. Louis, Missouri, American Meteorological Society, P10.11.
  29. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, M. Bell, W.-C. Lee, A. Pazmany, and C. C. Weiss, 2005: The evolution of a tornado: Ground-Based Velocity Track Display (GBVTD) analysis of mobile, W-band Doppler radar data on 15 May 1999 near Stockton, Kansas . 32nd Conf. on Radar Meteorology , Albuquerque, New Mexico, American Meteorological Society, P15R.13.
  30. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, C. C. Weiss, M. Bell, W.-C. Lee, and A. L. Pazmany, 2004: The structure of a tornado: Ground-based velocity track display (GBVTD) analysis of mobile, W-band, Doppler radar data on 15 May 1999 near Stockton, Kansas . 22nd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Hyannis, Massachusetts, American Meteorological Society, P11.15.
  31. Tanamachi, R. L., H. B. Bluestein, S. S. Moore, R. P. Madding, and C. R. Alexander, 2004: Infrared thermal imagery of cloud base in tornadic supercells . 22nd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , Hyannis, Massachusetts, American Meteorological Society, 14.14a.
  32. Tanamachi, R. L., and W. F. Feltz, 2004: Real-time nowcasting with the Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) . 84th AMS Annual Meeting , Seattle, Washington, American Meteorological Society, P1.4.
  33. Knuteson, R. O., D. H. Deslover, A. M. Larar, B. Osborne, H. E. Revercomb, J. F. Short, W. L. Smith, and R. Tanamachi, 2003: Infrared land surface remote sensing using high spectral resolution observations . SPIE , 24-35.
  34. Bluestein, H. B., C. C. Weiss, M. M. French, E. M. Holthaus, R. L. Tanamachi, S. J. Frasier, and A. L. Pazmany, 2002: High-resolution structure of tornadoes in south-central Kansas on 12 May 2004: Analysis of mobile Doppler radar data . 23rd Conf. on Severe Local Storms , St. Louis, Missouri, American Meteorological Society, 15.13.
  35. Tanamachi, R. L., V. P. Walden, S. A. Ackerman, H. E. Revercomb, and R. O. Knuteson, 2001: Progress towards a high-quality data set of infrared spectra from the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG) . 5th Symp. on Integrated Observing Systems , Albuquerque, New Mexico, American Meteorological Society, P1.2.
  36. Tanamachi, R. L., V. P. Walden, S. A. Ackerman, and R. O. Knuteson, 2001: Quality control and preliminary data analysis of the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG) data set . 11th Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography , Madison, Wisconsin, American Meteorological Society, P.5.61.


Theses and dissertations:
  1. Tanamachi, R. L., 2011: Multiple cyclic tornado production modes in the 5 May 2007 Greensburg, Kansas supercell storm. Ph.D. dissertation, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 198 pp.
  2. Tanamachi, R. L., 2004: The horizontal wind field of the 15 May 1999 Stockton, Kansas tornado as revealed by ground-based velocity-track display (GBVTD) analysis of W-band radar data. M. S. thesis, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 110 pp.
  3. Tanamachi, R. L., 2001: Data Quality Control and Preliminary Data Analysis of the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG) Data Set. Senior Honors Thesis, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 29 pp.
Media Appearances :
  • National Geographic Channel, Inside the Mega-Twister. Interview about experiences in the 31 May 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma tornado. 2015.
  • The Weather Channel, Weather Caught on Camera. Dust devil segment. 2013.
  • Los Angeles Times. Online interview regarding the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of 20 May 2013.
  • National Public Radio. Radio interview by John Hamilton about tornado safety. 2011.
  • ShocknetRadio.com (defunct), High Instability. Two-hour interview about tornado research. 2011.
  • The Weather Channel, VORTEX2: Target: Tornado and VORTEX2: The Great Tornado Hunt. Multiple on-camera interviews recorded during the field program (some aired live). 2009-2010.
  • The Discovery Channel, Naked Science: Tornadoes and Raging Planet II. 2009.
  • Felix Bassous, 66 Jours dans la Tornado Alley. French independent film about storm chasing / chasers. 2008.

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