Ted Fujita

Tetsuya Theodore "Ted" Fujita (藤田 哲也, Fujita Tetsuya, October 23, 1920 – November 19, 1998) was a prominent Japanese-American severe storms researcher. His research at the University of Chicago on severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and typhoons revolutionized knowledge of each.

Biography

Fujita was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He studied at Kyushu Institute of Technology and was an associate professor there until 1953, when he was invited to the University of Chicago on the invitation of Horace R. Byers who had become interested in his research, particularly his independent discovery of the cold-air downdraft.

Overview

Fujita is recognized as the discoverer of downbursts and microbursts and also developed the Fujita scale, which differentiates tornado intensity and links tornado damage with wind speed.

Fujita's best-known contributions were in tornado research; he was often called "Mr. Tornado" by his associates and by the media. In addition to developing the Fujita scale, Fujita was a pioneer in the development of tornado overflight and damage survey techniques, which he used to study and map the paths of the two tornadoes that hit Lubbock, Texas on May 11, 1970. He established the value of photometric analysis of tornado pictures and films to establish wind speeds at various heights at the surface of tornado vortices. Fujita was also the first to widely study the meteorological phenomenon of the downburst, which can pose serious danger to aircraft. As a result of his work, pilot training worldwide routinely uses techniques he pioneered to provide instruction to students.