Scientists studying the April 27 storms that killed more than 230 people in Alabama and the Southeast are looking for pictures and video of the tornadoes.

Pictures and video of the tornadoes and the storms that spawned them will be used to learn more about the deadly storms, how they developed and how to improve warnings to the public.

“We are interested in getting as much visible data as possible from that day, both video and stills,” said Dr. Kevin Knupp, a professor of atmospheric science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. “If anyone shot pictures or video of the tornadoes, that material could be very valuable to our work.

“We would like to be able to identify the various visual aspects of the storms,” Knupp added. “Some of the tornadoes were highly visible, while others were rain wrapped.

Having a picture can give us valuable links between a tornado’s intensity, the surrounding cloud formations and the corresponding radar information.”

Knupp, who leads UAH’s severe weather research team, said storm photos and video will be compared to radar data, detailed tornado track surveys and other data.

The photo/video analysis of the April 27 storms follows the successful analysis of about 500 photographs and 20 video clips of a January 21, 2010, tornado that hit Huntsville.

Compiled and organized by an undergraduate student, that analysis proved that “civilian” images can provide useful

information about storm genesis. Preliminary results of that work were presented at the American Meteorological Society’s Conference on Severe Local Weather in October.

Anyone willing to share their photographs or video of the storms can contact Knupp at tornado@nsstc.uah.edu. In addition to the pictures, scientists need to know the photographer’s location when a picture was taken, the time it

was taken and the general direction the camera was pointed.

All information received will be confidential and will be used for research purposes only.

Photos and video will be published in scientific journals or presented at scientific meetings and conferences only with the photographer’s written permission.