Tornado Interactions with the Built Environment

There has been a resurgence of tornado-related research in recent years, in part a response to catastrophic impacts on human life and property from an active 2011 tornado season. Computational, experimental and empirical research techniques have advanced our understanding of tornado risk, characteristics of tornadoes and tornado-like vortices, and tornado-structure interaction in many ways. However, numerous knowledge gaps remain in all areas of tornado research, hindering the advancement of tornado-resilient structural designs. With continued growth of human exposure in tornado-prone regions of the world, it is imperative that the growing body of knowledge on tornadoes and tornado-structure interaction is synthesized in order to mitigate future impacts.

This Research Topic solicits original research papers on recent advances in near-surface tornado wind flow, its interaction with buildings and other structures, the response of structures to the tornado-induced wind loads, and the impacts of tornadoes at the community scale. Experimental, computational and empirical research is welcomed at all scales of analysis (sub-building, building, community, regional). Acceptable topics include but are not limited to the following:

- Experimental or computational modelling of tornado-like flows and tornado-induced loading,
- Near-surface tornadic wind characteristics (e.g., effects of ground surface roughness, velocity profiles in tornadoes, wind speed estimation techniques)
- Characteristics and magnitudes of tornado-induced wind loads,
- Fragility of structures and structural elements to tornadoes
- Response of structures to tornadoes from post-disaster observations
- Impacts of tornado research on community resilience (e.g. community engagement, impacts, predictive tools for tornado damage, mitigation strategies)

All submissions should contain significant engineering content with practical applications to the built environment.