Alex Cooke

Featured Research Projects

• Real-time enhanced tornado warning product guidance based on tornado debris signature height and population density
  M.S. thesis that uses tornado debris signature height, storm motion vectors, and population data to issue real-time guidance on issuing PDS tornado warnings and tornado emergencies in order to reduce forecaster load in high-stress situations and increase warning accuracy.
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• Tornado Parameters in the Caribou, ME County Warning Area
  Project analyzing tornado occurrence, intensity, and path characteristics in Caribou, Maine, using principal component analysis and regularized regression to overcome challenges posed by a sparse dataset and numerous correlated environmental parameters. The research identifies key meteorological predictors, particularly lower atmospheric conditions like lifting condensation level and critical angle, to enhance operational forecasting accuracy in a northern, low-frequency tornado environment.
  
• Statistical Analysis of QLCS Tornado Environments in the Memphis County Warning Area
  Project analyzing meteorological predictors of quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) tornadoes in the Memphis County Warning Area, employing principal component analysis and regularized regression to handle high-dimensional data from a limited number of events. The research identifies mid-level lapse rates as a key predictor of QLCS tornado frequency.