The VORTEX 2 field command unit tracks an approaching severe thunderstorm in Nebraska on June 6, 2010. Known as "F.C.," the National Severe Storms Laboratory truck is one of several research vehicles that participated in VORTEX 2, an unprecedented two-year science project to study tornadoes in the United States in 2009 and 2010. Functioning like an air traffic control tower on wheels, the F.C. organized and communicated storm intercept activities in real-time. Weather observations from other mobile instruments, mobile radar data, and location information were broadcast over a mobile digital radio network to the command unit, who analyzed the information and directed team members and research vehicles to ideal field positions.