TOTO
TOtable Tornado Observatory
A 250–350 lb instrumented steel barrel — the first purpose-built, deployable probe ever aimed at a tornado. Two people could unstrap it and roll it out of a pickup bed in about 30 seconds, tip it upright, and aim it north for accurate wind readings.
Retired in 1987 after it was judged too top-heavy to survive a direct hit. It went on to inspire "Dorothy" in the film Twister.
HITPR "Turtle" Probes
Hardened In-Situ Tornado Pressure Recorder
A squat, cone-shaped, 40–50 lb metal probe nicknamed "the turtle" for its low profile, which let it stay pinned to the ground under extreme wind. Recorded pressure, temperature, humidity and GPS position, deployable in as little as 7–15 seconds.
Earned Samaras a Guinness World Record and remains the most famous tornado probe in storm-chasing history.
StickNet Probes
Rapidly-deployable mesonet stations
Lightweight tripod-mounted weather stations (anemometer, pressure, temperature/humidity sensors) that crews fan out in a line ahead of a storm to map the near-ground wind field around a tornado, rather than relying on a single direct hit.
Rocket-Launched Parachute Probes
Airborne Lagrangian tornado probe
Rather than sitting on the ground, this probe is launched by rocket from a chase vehicle's roof, drifts down on a parachute, and rides the wind inside the vortex itself, transmitting pressure, temperature, humidity, wind and GPS data in real time.