Social
Scientists at DRC and CISA are contributing to the
research efforts
of
CASA by exploring the social and human dimensions
of severe weather
forecasts
and warnings. CASA is a recently established Engineering
Research
Center (ERC) within NSF’s Directorate for
Engineering that
focuses
on the development of revolutionary sensing technology
that will
enable
earlier and more accurate forecasts of severe weather
events.
CASA’s
technology is expected to increase the warning time
for
tornadoes,
flash floods, and other severe weather events with
greater
accuracy
than existing systems.
The
aim of the recently funded ERC is to establish the
necessary
infrastructure
to sense, analyze, and predict lower atmospheric
events and
to
respond to potentially hazardous phenomena in order
to significantly
reduce
their impact on society. More accurate and reliable
weather
forecasts
and warning systems (based on the technology proposed
by
CASA
researchers) may lead to improved disaster mitigation,
preparedness,
and response initiatives. However, improving weather
forecasts
and increasing lead times is only part of the equation
in
determining
the ultimate effectiveness of organizational and
individual
preparedness
and response to natural hazards.
Social
Scientists in the CASA project are focusing their
research efforts on
examining
how improved forecasting can reduce the exposure
and
vulnerability
of individuals and property to every-day and extreme
weather
events.
Specifically, through the use of survey methodology
and focus
groups,
we are examining how the end-user community, particularly
emergency
managers, access, utilize, and respond to weather
forecasts. We
also
seek to explore their knowledge and interests concerning
weather
forecasting
issues, attitudes towards climatological information,
and their
needs
and interests in relation to the use of meteorological
information. We
aim
to answer a variety of questions, including: who
has access to
climatological
information and weather forecasts?; what are the
primary
sources
of weather information used by emergency management
agencies?;
how much confidence do these end-users have on this
type of
information?;
according to the end-users, how reliable are weather
forecasts
and warnings?; how does climatological information
affect the
decision-making
processes of this community of end-users? We have
already
initiated the data collection process in the state
of Oklahoma; we
will
then collect similar types of data in Texas and
Puerto Rico.
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