Lee uses radars and other observing tools to map out the windfields in hurricanes and tornadoes and to study the size and patterns of raindrops. He developed a mathematical technique to pull more information out of ground-based radar depictions of intense, fast-changing weather systems, including hurricane eyewalls. This work has led to the creation of a tool known as VORTRAC, adapted by the National Hurricane Center, which forecasts the intensity of hurricanes nearing land.
