An Evaluation of Radar-Based Tornado Track Estimation Products by Oklahoma Public Safety Officials

Abstract

Abstract Many public safety officials (e.g., emergency managers and first responders) use weather-radar data to inform many life-saving decisions, such as sounding outdoor warning sirens and directing storm spotters. Therefore, to include this important user group in ongoing radar applications research, a knowledge coproduction framework is used to interact with, learn from, and provide information to public safety officials. From these interactions, it became clear that radar-based products that estimate a tornado’s location, intensity, or both could be valuable to public safety officials. Therefore, a survey was conducted and a focus group formed to 1) collect feedback on several of these products currently under development, 2) identify potential decisions that could be made with these products, and 3) examine the impact of radar update time on product usefulness. An analysis of the survey and focus group responses revealed that public safety officials preferred simple interactive products provided to them using multiple communication methods. Once received, any product that could clearly communicate where a tornado may have occurred would likely help public safety officials focus search and rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of a tornado. Additionally, public safety officials preferred products created using rapid-update data (1–2-min volumetric updates) over conventional-update data (4–5-min volumetric updates) because it provided them with more complete information.