Bringing the Value Chain for High-Impact Weather Warnings into the Classroom

Abstract

Abstract University students can learn about weather warnings and contribute to a database for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) project on Value Chain Approaches to Evaluate the End-to-End Warning Chain. The project offers students a way to understand how information about high-impact weather is created, shared, and used within a complete warning system for a selected event. Their contributions are intended to inform researchers and practitioners on what has and what has not worked well in the warning process. The students use a structured questionnaire designed to collect information on observations, forecasting, hazards, impacts, warning communications, and responses. Two institutions took contrasting approaches to using the questionnaire. At the University of Miami, teams of meteorology undergraduates evaluated the value chain for three hurricanes. Among the issues identified were the dynamic nature of the forecasts, misinterpretations of the products, social media influences, demographic factors, and disparities in responses. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology engaged student interns in different disciplines and experience levels to evaluate and contrast the warning value chains for domestic and international events. The students expressed enthusiasm for the exercises. Educational benefits included team collaboration, critical thinking, research and composition skills, a comprehensive view of weather events, understanding information flow, learning about new tools, and identifying gaps in practices. We encourage educators to adopt similar exercises to enable students to develop these skills, adopt value chain ideas, and contribute meaningfully to the community. The level of maintenance is low, and there is flexibility in how the exercises can be developed.