Allocation of Radar Resources and Policy Implications: The End-User Community in Oklahoma
Date
2005
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Social scientists at the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware, the Center for Applied Social Research (CISA) at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, and at the University of Massachusetts are conducting a research project focusing on the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of end-users (primarily emergency managers and representatives from the National Weather Service – NWS) in the State of Oklahoma regarding severe weather events, warnings, and the development of new radar technology. Particular attention has also been paid to the advantages, problems, and limitations of current weather technology from the emergency manager’s perspective. This research brief focuses on the end-users’ recommendations regarding the allocation of the new radar resources that are being developed by the Engineering Research Center (ERC) on the Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA), which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In-depth interviews were conducted with members (n=38) of the emergency management community and NWS meteorologists with diverse experiences in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Based on the results from the in-depth interviews, we generated seven (7) broad categories that include the recommendations or factors that emergency managers reported should be taken into account in the allocation of radar resources, including a) nature of the hazard event, b) potential impact and outcomes of the hazard event, c) lead time, d) false alarm rates, e) population issues, f) infrastructure, and g) availability of other resources.
Description
Keywords
Warning Systems, Computer Technology, Disaster Preparedness