The late Ted Fujita pioneered the use of movies and photographs, integrated with other meteorological data (such as radar data, wind and thermodynamic measurements, and satellite imagery), in detailed studies of severe convective storms and tornadoes. Photogrammetric analysis of tornadic debris movies (and videos), and of photographs of tornadoes, walls clouds, and other cloud features, has provided estimates of wind speeds in tornadoes and elucidated the relationship between convective phenomena and their kinematic and thermodynamic structures. In addition, the visual documentation of severe convective phenomena has led to conceptual models of convective storms that have been used by spotters and in observational studies.
In recent years, with the advent of inexpensive consumer digital video cameras and an increase in the number of storm chasers in the U. S., many videos and photographs of severe convective phenomena have become available for use in case studies. While any selection of spectacular videos or photographs is solicited, those in which visual documentation is a significant part of a study are particularly encouraged. Videos that document tornado behavior or, in time-lapse mode, show the evolution of storm structure, are particularly invited.