1. Social Science Integration & NOAA/NWS
National Weather Service Vankita Brown, Ph.D.
Jennifer M. Sprague
SPP
OCWWS
National Weather Service
August 5, 2013

2. Towards Integration Operations & Decision-Making
NOAA Social Science Needs Assessment
Risk Communication
Economic Valuation
NOAA Social Science Tiger Team
Budget and Workforce Realities
Part of NOAA/NWS Dialogue and Message
Weather-Ready Nation
Forethought, not Afterthought
Better understanding of societal impacts
Making our information more relevant to decision makers
Participating directly in decision making for those decisions fundamental to the role of government, especially the protection of life and property
Counting on market forces to provide diverse decision-support services across the entire economy

3. Towards Integration Research
Joint NWS & OAR WRN Research Awards
Sandy Assessment & Sandy Supplemental
Storm Surge Research
Hazards Simplification
CR Impacts Based Warnings
Internal & External Leveraging
Four WRN Research Awards:
Flood Risk and Uncertainty: Assessing the National Weather Service’s Forecast and Warning Tools
Utilization of Real-Time Social Media Data in Severe Weather Events: A Proposal to Evaluate the Prospects of Social Media Data Use of Severe Weather Forecasting, Communication, and Post-Event Assessments
Social and Behavioral Influences on Weather-Driven Decisions
The Impact of Uncertainty Information on Tornado Warning Response: Developing Recommendations for Warning Best Practices

4. Weather-Ready Nation Vision
The end goal of a “Weather-Ready Nation” is to help people make better decisions with better information.
Society’s ability to prepare for natural disasters requires a societal response equal to the risk.
R&D • R2O • O2R
SOCIETAL RESPONSE EQUAL TO RISK

5. National Weather Service Social Science Projects
@ NCAS

6. NOAA’s Center for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)
Cooperative Science Center (CSC)
Howard University (lead institution)
Jackson State University
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaquez
University of Maryland College Park
State University of New York at Albany

7. Social Science Projects
National Disaster Risk Communication Social and Behavior Research
Dr. Terri Adams-Fuller, Dr. Carolyn Stroman, Michelle Dovil, Rita Jacobs (OAR)
5 focus groups (two more in Fall)
Houston, TX; Birmingham, AL; San Juan, PR; Washington, DC; New York City
Survey Development

8. Social Science Projects
Heat Project
Internal Assessment
Focus Groups
Dr. Terri Adams-Fuller, Dr. Carolyn Stroman, Michelle Dovil, Rita Jacobs
Assessment of NWS Heat Outreach Materials
Dr. Tia Tyree et al.
External Assessment
HU Capstone Communications Laboratory

9. Social Science Projects
Survey to ESL/Spanish Speaking Customers
Customer Satisfaction Survey
Service Assessments
Social Media use Among African Americans
Dr. Crystal Adkisson

10. Questions and Discussion
Jennifer Sprague
Vankita Brown