Uses of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

in Hydrometeorological Modeling and Impact

Studies

Convection26%

Tem-pera-ture8%

Flood54%

Marine1%

Tropical0%

Winter4%

Drought8% Weather Damage 2010

Outline1) Current Meteorological Uses of GIS and

Hydrometeorology2) Current Research/Studies of

Hydrometeorological Data and GIS3) Future of GIS in operational meteorology

Current StateMain bodies:

National Weather ServiceNational Center Atmospheric Research

Focus currently on data collection and preparation

Extensive Use by Specialty Centers, not locally.

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 841 PM CDT TUE AUG 16 2011 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... WASHINGTON COUNTY... EASTERN HENNEPIN COUNTY... RAMSEY COUNTY... EXTREME SOUTHERN ANOKA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT

* AT 838 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. RAINFALL RATES OF 2 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR WILL OCCUR WITH THESE STORMS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. DO NOT ENTER THE WATER. TURN AROUND AND MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

LAT...LON 4520 9277 4509 9277 4508 9280 4505 9280 4503 9277 4493 9277 4490 9336 4512 9337

Current Research

Rain Gauges

Kruger et. al 2011

NWP

Feidas et. al 2006

Impact StudiesSimilar to FEMA mapping.Includes river information, flood plains,

historical floods.Also includes data about land use.Socioeconomic DataOnly river flooding, flash flooding?

The Future

Fargo Service Assessment 2009BEST PRACTICE 13: Customers were able to successfully

utilize the dynamic flood inundation mapping service for mitigation and planning purposes.

FINDING 14: Interactive inundation maps are recognized as a high priority need because of their high value as tools for flood-related risk reduction decisions. Despite this, availability of these tools is very limited.

RECOMMENDATION 14: The NWS should continue to support activities to expand the development and use of flood inundation mapping for Fargo/Moorhead and other similar areas prone to regular flooding where the human and/or economic impact is high

Current Dissemination

The Future

Joplin Service Assessment Recommendation #2: To improve severe weather warning response and

mitigate user complacency, the NWS should explore evolving the warning system to better support effective decision making. This evolution should utilize a simple, impact-based, tiered information structure that promotes warning credibility and empowers individuals to quickly make appropriate decisions in the face of adverse conditions

Finding # 3: Many current warning dissemination systems are not fully compatible with specific warning information provided by storm-based, warning polygons.

Recommendation # 3: The NWS should continue to collaborate with partners who disseminate weather information to advance GPS-based warning dissemination systems that are compatible with more specific storm-based warning information. This change should include cultivating use of mobile communications technologies (text messaging, smart phone apps, Commercial Mobile Alert System, etc.) and technological upgrades of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and NWR.

In Closing…GIS currently not widely utilized.

Ongoing research shows promise… but issues with data.

Very applicable to impact studies/models.

New operational uses are coming.

References Baun, S. (November 1, 2011). In FR 5114 Class (Ed.), National weather service river forecast program Retrieved from DEVANTIER, B., & FELDMAN, A.  (1993). Review of gis applications in hydrologic modeling. Journal of Water Resources

Planning and Management-Asce, 119(2), 246-261. Feidas, H., Kontos, T., Soulakellis, N., & Lagouvardos, K. (2007). A GIS tool for the evaluation of the precipitation forecasts

of a numerical weather prediction model using satellite data. Computers & Geosciences, 33(8), 989-1007. Iowa Environmental Mesonet. (2011). Flash Flood Warnings. Retrieved December 1, 2011 from

http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/vtec/#2011-O-NEW-KMPX-FF-W-0015 Krajewski, W. F., Kruger, A., Smith, J. A., Lawrence, R., Gunyon, C., Goska, R., . . . Steiner, M. (2011). Towards better

utilization of NEXRAD data in hydrology: An overview of hydro-NEXRAD. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 13(2), 255- NASA Earth Observatory. (2011). Tornado Track in Tuscaloosa. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=50434 NASA’s Goddard Space Center (2011). Hurricane Season 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011 from

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2011/h2011_Irene.html National Weather Service Central Region. (2009). Flood Event in the Dakotas and Minnesota, principally Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services. (2011). Natural hazard statistic. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from 

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml Qi, H., & Altinakar, M. S. (2011). A GIS-based decision support system for integrated flood management under uncertainty

with two dimensional numerical simulations. Environmental Modelling & Software, 26(6), 817-821. Sheets, K., & Graffman, I. (2009). GIS in NWS. NOAA System-of-Systems Workshop, Silver Springs, Maryland. October 7

2009. the Red River of the North, March - April, 2009. Retrieved December 2,2011 from

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/pdf/RRN2009_RegionalReview_Final.pdf U.S Drought Monitor. (2011). South. Retrieved December 1, 2011 from http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/pdfs/south_dm.pdf Virginia Climatology Office (2o11). WSR 88-D NEXRAD Radar. Retrieved December 3,2011, from

http://climate.virginia.edu/veos/vivas/vivas_radar.htm Zhang, X., & Srinivasan, R. (2010). GIS-based spatial precipitation estimation using next generation radar and raingauge

data. Environmental Modelling & Software, 25(12), 1781-1788.

Questions?