Michele M. Robertson and NEXRAD and the Broadcast Kelvin K. Droegemeier School of University of Weather Industry: Preparing Norman, OK 73019 to Share the Technology

Abstract NEXRAD is a key element in the future of the Na- tional Weather Service (NWS) and its forecast offices. This paper describes results from a survey designed to establish Can it also play a role in the future of the television the current level of and computer technology of the television weather industry? We examine this question through weather industry, and to assess the awareness and attitudes of results obtained from a national survey designed to television weather forecasters toward the Next Generation (NEXRAD) program and its potential impact on the field of 1) assess the basic current radar and computer ca- broadcast meteorology. The survey was distributed to one affiliate pabilities of the television weather industry; station in each of the 213 national television markets, and a 46% 2) determine the awareness of NEXRAD within the response rate was achieved over a 4-week period. The survey results indicate substantial awareness of and interest in NEXRAD, television community; along with a willingness to learn more about its capabilities and 3) establish which of the NEXRAD base products potential for use in the private sector. Survey participants suggested are currently most popular; and that potential private NEXRAD users work directly with the Na- 4) examine the willingness of television weather tional Weather Service (NWS) and its affiliates so as to fully utilize forecasters to work with the NWS in using the the capabilities of the new radar system. NEXRAD system. A cover letter explaining NEXRAD and the purpose 1. Introduction of the survey was included in the mailing, along with a self addressed stamped envelope.1 Television weather forecasts have become the pri- mary source of daily weather information for the American public. Most American families today have 2. Methodology at least one television set, and have become depen- dent upon their local television weather forecaster for The surveys were distributed nationwide to all 213 help in planning daily activities. (In this article, the of the television markets during September 1988, and term television weather forecaster is used without re- were collected through the second week of October. gard to an individual's formal training in meteorology (A market is defined as a group of television stations or the atmospheric sciences.) The emergence of so- sharing the same area coverage.) Ninety-eight re- phisticated graphic display systems, particularly those sponses were received, corresponding to a 46% re- with animation capability, has greatly changed the turn. (See figure 1 for the geographical location of broadcast weather industry by facilitating the rapid each response.) One randomly selected affiliate sta- dissemination of information in a format understand- tion of the ABC, CBS, and NBC networks was chosen able to the viewer. Consequently, the viewing audi- from each market. The decision to survey only one ence is growing in sophistication and is becoming affiliate from each market is based on the following increasingly knowledgeable about the weather. For assumptions: example, it is not uncommon for viewers in regions 1) intramarket budget differences are small com- frequented by to see pared to intermarket differences, and displays on their evening news programs. Most view- 2) technical awareness is comparable within a given ing audiences appreciate the advanced warning of severe weather provided by Doppler radar, and the market because of competition among the sta- installation of the Next Generation Weather Radar tions. (NEXRAD) network will provide this and other ca- The budgets of individual television stations play a pabilities nationwide in a fully operational system major role in the broadcast weather industry, and (NOAA 1986; Defense Systems 1988).

1 A copy of the letter and the survey are provided in Appendices © 1990 American Meteorological Society 1 and 2, respectively.

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/05/21 07:07 AM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society 15 related advancements in technology have been pro- 3. Results lific and essential for successful broadcast weather operations. However, because such technology is The grouping of markets into large, medium, and small often rather expensive and its use therefore confined categories is necessary when comparing station radar primarily to the larger television stations, the re- and computer facilities because the sophistication and sponses were grouped into three categories according capabilities of such systems are necessarily a function to market rank. The Broadcasting/Cablecasting Year- of the station's budget. Thirty eight percent of the book annually ranks each market according to the large markets surveyed own a conventional (i.e., non- number of viewing households within each viewing Doppler) radar and 87% have access to reflectivity area. These viewing-household numbers correlate well displays via ownership or dial-up services. Thirty per- with advertising dollars received each year by indi- cent of the large-market stations have access to Dop- vidual stations because advertising is the prime source pler velocity displays and 100% of the stations are of station income. Large markets are those having a equipped with computers for data acquisition and market rank from 1 to 71 with 1 being the highest graphics. One in three of these stations also has cus- rank. Medium markets are those between 71 and 143, tomized software to meet their various weather fore- and the range of small markets is 143 to 213. It is casting needs. Similar results of computer and radar important to note that, because some respondents capabilities for medium and small market groups are chose to answer only selected questions, our statistics summarized in table 1. When asked if access to are based on the total number of responses for each NEXRAD products would be a worthwhile expense question and not upon the total number of surveys for their television station, most of the respondents returned. Furthermore, it is difficult in this type of declined to comment pending the receipt of addi- study to quantify the statistical sampling error. For tional information describing NEXRAD and its capa- example, the results may be biased somewhat if the bilities. However, those stations in the large market failure of a station to respond reflects either its lack that chose to respond (56%) deemed NEXRAD and of interest in weather reporting or the inaccessibility its products worthy expenses; 41% of the medium of a radar. markets and 48% of the small markets responded fa- vorably as well.

FIG. 1. Proposed locations of the NEXRAD radar sites (dots) and locations of survey responses (stars). Coincident locations are indicated by a star and a dot.

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TABLE 1. Radar and computing capabilities of responding stations.

Percent

owning access to access having Market conventional reflectivity to Doppler owning custom group radar displays displays computers software

Large 38 87 30 100 33 Medium 31 82 3 90 38 Small 15 71 10 86 28

One of the more important issues addressed by this display relative to its potential for use, e.g., as deter- survey concerns the awareness of and interest in mined by the frequency of severe weather occur- NEXRAD by television weather forecasters. Weather rences. forecasters from 72% of all stations surveyed had some knowledge of NEXRAD and its products, while 85% indicated a willingness to attend regional workshops 4. Summary and discussion to learn more about NEXRAD and its potential ap- plication to the television weather industry. This sug- These findings suggest that television weather fore- gests that most television meteorologists and weather casters and the NWS should begin negotiating for co- forecasters are keeping abreast of technological ad- operative use of the NEXRAD system immediately. Per- vances in the field of meteorology. Most importantly, haps weathercasters should organize their NEXRAD however, 96% of those surveyed viewed close inter- needs and present them to the NWS before the system action with the NWS and NEXRAD as a positive ben- is installed. In this manner, the broadcasting industry efit to their station. will be able to gain the maximum benefit from Each station surveyed was presented with a list of NEXRAD. NEXRAD base products and asked to identify those The survey results also suggest that television of greatest potential benefit to their forecast opera- weathercasters are interested in and ready to use tions. The results and products are listed in table 2. NEXRAD. Because it is the purpose of television The popularity of the four most preferred products, weathercasters to inform the public directly, often us- namely, tracking, hail index, - and ing products generated by the National Weather Ser- tornadic-vortex-signature recognition, and precipita- vice, the potential of the NEXRAD system for public tion accumulation, may be governed somewhat by dissemination can be realized primarily by television the fact that the associated displays are fully auto- stations. One has only to look to the Weather Chan- mated. Such capability can be invaluable during the nel's 24-h public weather dissemination to realize real-time analysis mode which prevails in the field of how important and popular weather has become to broadcast meteorology. The apparent lack of interest the American viewing audience. There appears to be in products such as the vertically integrated liquid water content (VIL) may result from a lack of under- TABLE 2. NEXRAD product comparison (ranked by popularity). standing by the community. A particularly remarkable result of the survey is that, Stations' despite the highly competitive nature of the television preferences weather industry, particularly the desire to be unique, NEXRAD base product (%)

71% of the respondents agreed to use the NEXRAD Storm tracking 77 products in table 2 even if their competitors had ac- Severe weather analysis 74 cess to identical or nearly identical products and dis- Mesocyclone- and tornadic-vortex-signature recognition 71 plays. accumulation 69 The interest in NEXRAD among current users of. Hail index 62 Doppler radar seems to be relatively high. Two-thirds Echo tops 60 54 of current Doppler users stated that they would sub- Velocity data 51 scribe to NEXRAD products if a graphics company Shear data 43 were to market them, while the other one-third were Turbulence data 39 Vertically integrated liquid water content 35 undecided. Among the present non-Doppler users, Boundary layer profile 34 38% agreed to subscribe to NEXRAD while 52% re- Cross section analysis 22 mained undecided. The primary reason given for this Weak echo region 18 Layer reflectivity 16 indecision concerned the estimated cost per product

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a desire, however, that only qualified meteorologists, Laboratory also in Norman, have developed several prod- or individuals with equivalent forecasting experience ucts from the NEXRAD algorithms. In particular, NEXRAD and knowledge, be allowed access to the NEXRAD will (1) provide the user with a series of automated products which are ideal for real-time analysis, and (2) allow the displays. One respondent stated emphatically that forecaster to obtain simultaneous radar images nationwide "NEXRAD data should be made available to mete- without the limitations imposed by a single radar scope. orologists only! Misinterpretation of Doppler data has Please take a few minutes to complete the attached sur- already caused too many problems in this market/' vey and return it in the pre-stamped enclosed envelope on Similar concerns were voiced by others in the open or before October 7, 1988. It is not necessary to sign your comment section of the survey. The answer to this name as all responses will remain anonymous. A final draft potentially growing concern then must lie in educa- of this study will be submitted in December for possible publication in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological tion, and most of the respondents indicated that they Society. Your cooperation is deeply appreciated. would be willing to attend regional workshops for such a purpose. Sincerely, Michele Mussa Robertson In cooperation with experts in the NEXRAD sys- tem, television weather forecasters will likely play a major role in integrating the NEXRAD product stream Appendix 2: survey with responses into the broadcast weather industry. Although such an effort will require considerable coordination be- tween the federal government and the private sector, This appendix contains a copy of the survey which it represents the most effective mechanism by which was mailed to all 213 of the television markets during the multiple benefits of the NEXRAD system can be September, 1988, along with the number of re- made available to the American public. sponses for each question. Because questions 2 and 3 were apparently misinterpreted by some respon- dents, the associated data are not included in the discussion. Acknowledgments. The authors acknowledge Jeff Lazalier of WTTV-TV Channel 4 in for help in preparing the sur- (1) What is the current market rank of your city? vey; Kenneth Wilk, Dale Sirmans, and Timothy O'Bannon of the From 3-211 NEXRAD Operational Support Facility; and Don Sarreals of the (2) How many meteorologists and/or broadcast journal- NEXRAD Joint Systems Program Office. Gratitude is also extended ists does your station hire for the weather portion of to Donald Patten of the Department of your newscasts? Mathematics for guidance in the statistical analysis of the findings; meteorologists journalists other to Kenneth Crawford, Area Manager of the Na- (3) What meteorological education have your weather- tional Weather Service Forecast Office for his insight into the future casters received? workings of NEXRAD in the NWS; and to Gary England of KWTV Bachelors Masters Doctorate Channel 9 in Oklahoma City for aiding in the preparation of the Military Training other (including partial or final report. Finally, we express appreciation to those television no college work) weather forecasters who participated in the survey, and to anon- (4) Does your station own a conventional radar? (reflec- ymous reviewers who provided several helpful comments on the tivity displays only) manuscript. This research was conducted as an independent study 27 yes 66 No course in the School of Meteorology at the University of Okla- (5) If the answer to (4) was yes, please name the company homa, and was supported by the Cray Research Foundation through and system. Grant ATM86-57013 to the second author from the National Sci- ence Foundation. (6) Does your station have access to a radar display? 78 yes 18 No (7) If the answer to (6) was yes, please list the company Appendix 1: cover letter to respondents and system.

(8) Does your station have Doppler velocity displays? Dear Weathercaster: ]J> Yes 78 No (9) If the answer to (8) was yes, please list the company I am a senior majoring in meteorology at the University and system. of Oklahoma. As a final project before graduation, I am attempting to determine the awareness of television weath- (10) Is your weather department equipped with computers? ercasters to the benefits of NEXRAD, which will be made 89 Yes Z No available to you very soon. (11) If the answer to (10) was yes, check appropriate spaces NEXRAD, or Next Generation Weather Radar, consists of a series of algorithms which utilize the data gained from a Type Company national network of Doppler . Upon its completion Data Acquisition and installation in 1993, NEXRAD will serve over 400 op- Graphics erational sites. The in Norman, Customized Software 32 Oklahoma, in cooperation with the National Severe Other

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(12) What weather phenomena would you say dominate in attending regional workshops to learn more about your area's weather? what NEXRAD has to offer television? (13) Are your weathercasters familiar with NEXRAD? 1$. Yes 14 No

ZJ Yes 27 No (17) Would knowing that the information from NEXRAD is (14) If a graphics company were to market the products the same for all the stations in every television market made available by NEXRAD algorithms, would you influence your decision to subscribe to the NEXRAD subscribe to them? products?

42 yes 6 No undecided 28 yes No (15) Which of the below listed product displays from (18) Would you consider the products you selected above NEXRAD would you be most interested in? (You may to be a worthy budget expenditure?

choose several.) 46 Yes ^ No 45 Not sure JLL Composite Reflectivity Data; a composite of the high- (19) Given that NEXRAD will be located at National Weather est reflectivities from all elevations scanned Service offices, would you view close interaction with JJl Layer Reflectivity Data; composite reflectivity for 3 the NWS as a positive benefit to your operation?

selectable layers 94 Yes ? No _59_ Echo Tops; computes heights of cloud tops > 18dBZ Please use the back of this page to write any additional Velocity Data comments you may have concerning NEXRAD and il Shear Data how it will relate to your television station. Turbulence Data ZA. Severe Weather Analysis; provides data from individ- ual storm cells JJL Weak Echo Region Data _22_ Cross Section Analysis of Velocity Data in the Vertical Plane Vertically Integrated Liquid Water Content of individ- ual cells References Storm Tracking J>L Hail Index Friday, E. W. Jr., 1988. The National Weather Service severe storm 7SL Mesocyclone and Tornadic Vortex Signature Recog- program: Year 2000. Preprints, 15th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, nition Amer. Meteor. Soc., Feb. 22-26, Baltimore, J1-J8. Precipitation Accumulation NOAA, 1986. Next Generation Weather Radar Product Descrip- JLA. Boundary Layer Wind Profile tion Document, Joint System Program Office, Silver Spring, MD, Of the above listed products, the last 6 are automated IV 1-46, V 1-25. analysis products. This means that the image will dis- Taishoff, S. 1988. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook. Washing- play quantitative information instead of basic data, ton, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications Inc. which will increase the real-time interpretation of Unisys Defense Systems. 1988. Unisys Description Document, weather. Shipboard and Ground Systems Group, Marcus Avenue, Great (16) Would the weathercasters at your station be interested Neck, NY. •

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