Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops, ThinkCentre PCs Power Tornado Watchers

The VORTEX2 tornado research team will use Lenovo ThinkPad W700 laptops for radar and mapping applications, as well as analyzing and displaying graphic-intense data and video. According to Lenovo, the laptops will additionally be used for public presentations and for the first analysis of data in the field.

Dr. Joshua Wurman, pictured, invented the Doppler on Wheels (DOW) tornado research vehicle. “To pull off a project of this scale, we need rugged and reliable PC technology to collect, house and analyze every bit of data,” Wurman said in a statement from Lenovo.

Inside the DOW, scientists will use Lenovo ThinkPads and ThinkVision monitors. The monitors, Lenovo says, will step up energy efficiency and video performance standards for the crew, as well as deliver weather briefings to the team of 100 scientists.

Using Lenovo technology, the VORTEX2 team will study why some thunderstorms produce tornadoes while others do not, in an effort to better predict future storms. ThinkPad T400 laptops and S10 netbooks are among those at the scientists’ disposal.

Inside the DOW research vehicle is a stack of eight ThinkCentre M58p desktops. Each PC performs a different function related to running the mobile radar, observing the weather and operating radar.