65th IHC Booklet/Program (pdf - 4.9MB) - Office of the Federal ...

Establishing an Improved National Capability for Collection of Extreme Storm and Flood
Data
This abstract was drafted by the members of the Office of Federal Coordinator's Workgroup on
Disaster Impact Assessments: Weather and Water Data, including William Birkemeier
(USACE), Dan Catlett (FEMA), William L. Coulbourne ( Wind and Flood Hazard Mitigation
Applied Technology Conference), Robert R. Holmes (USGS, Robert R. Mason, Jr. (USGS),
Anthony R. Ramirez (NOAA), Wilson Shaffer (NOAA), and D. Phil Turnipseed (USGS) and
presented by Robert Mason, Workgroup Chair, on behalf of the committee.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service
(NWS) flood forecasting operations saves thousands of lives and reduce injuries and property
damage by billions of dollars annually. But this process, which depends on data from thousands
of U.S. Geological Survey streamgages and NOAA meteorological stations, usually does not
provide data coverage sufficient to adequately document the extensive impacts of a major storm
or flood or enable understanding of small-scale, localized processes. As a result, network
observations often are supplemented by post-storm surveys and studies of rainfall, flood marks,
and wind damage to fill in observational gaps and obtain a more complete spatial coverage. In
turn, these data are studied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National
Institute of Science and Technology, and various State agencies resulting in advancements in
building codes and construction practices.
Today, post-storm surveys and traditional networks can be greatly augmented by pre-event
deployment of small, self-contained instruments in spatially dense, temporary networks to
monitor the event directly and continuously. Clusters of self-logging pressure transducers and
real-time rapid-deployment gages monitor waves and water-levels and anemometers and truckmounted
Doppler radars monitor wind speed and direction at rapid intervals. These data
describe the evolution of storms and floods with unprecedented spatial and temporal detail,
particularly floods of coastal waters and wetlands. The resulting data can be used to (1) develop
more accurate and robust wind, storm-surge, and flood models; (2) derive better structure design
criteria and building codes; and (3) improve warning systems.
Effective utilization of these mobile networks requires the timely and well-coordinated efforts to
deploy equipment into targeted areas in anticipation of the storm. In response to this need,
various Federal agencies and affiliated organizations have created the National Plan for Disaster
Impact Assessments: Weather and Water Data (NPDIA), which establishes a procedural template
for coordinating various pre-storm readiness activities and post-storm responses. The plan is
available from the publications web page of Office of the Federal Coordinator for
Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM) at URL:
http://www.ofcm.gov/homepage/text/pubs.htm.
This presentation will describe procedures for coordinating deployment activities, capabilities of
the participating agencies and affiliated organizations; mechanisms for aggregating and sharing
resources; plans for documenting the event; and links to acquired data. By working together and
with other stakeholders we can better collect the timely and useful data needed to develop more
robust and resilient communities and a safer, disaster resilient Nation.
Session 4 – Page 7