Important message from the director of the Societal Impacts Program
April 3, 2012
Due to the tough budget times and NOAA’s choices about the allocation of their funds, we regret to say that external funding of the Collaborative Program on the Societal and Economic Benefits of Weather Information (aka the Societal Impacts Program) has been discontinued.
We have thus discontinued or suspended non-research related activities including WAS*IS, the Societal Impacts Discussion Board, the Weather and Society Watch, the Extreme Weather Sourcebook, and other information resources. As such we will be “taking down” these webpages as we will not be able to maintain them.
The Societal Impacts Program Discussion Board will be reinvented very shortly as a community service supported by Rebecca Morss here at NCAR. Please look for a message from her in the next week or so as we hope that a new incarnation of the board comes back online.
If you have any questions you may contact Jeff Lazo at lazo@ucar.edu.
Sincerely,
Jeff Lazo
2011
September 2011
R. Morss presented “Experimental prediction of hazardous weather” at the Showcase of NSF-funded Hazards Research at National Science Foundation and U.S. Senate in Washington, DC Sept. 6-7, 2011
J. Demuth began work with the Detroit Weather Forecat Office (WFO) in planning an Integrated Warning Team (IWT) meeting for March 2012, and plans to be a keynote speaker about social science.
August 2011
E. Laidlaw, J. Demuth, and J. Lazo hosted the tenth-ever Weather and Society * Integrated Studies (WAS*IS) workshop August 4-12, 2011, in Boulder, Colorado. The workshop was sponsored by the Societal Impacts Program (SIP), the Integrated Science Program (ISP) and the National Weather Service (NWS). For more details about the workshop, please click here.
E. Laidlaw updated hurricane, tornado, flood, and composite data on the Extreme Weather Sourcebook to $2009 and updated accompanying methodology and data information.
R. Morss and J. Demuth presented, “Understanding communication, interpretation, use, and value of weather information” to the NRC Committee on the Assessment of the NWS’s Modernization Program in Boulder, Colo., Aug 16, 2011.
J. Demuth assisted with organizing abstracts that were submitted for the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Seventh Symposium on Policy and Socio-Economic Research to be held January 2012 in New Orleans.
July 2011
E. Laidlaw published the July 2011 edition of Weather and Society Watch, which was distributed to approximately 450 subscribers. To see the July 2011 WSW newsletter, please click here.
E. Laidlaw completed a draft paper merging both survey parts of the Storm Data project.
June 2011
J. Lazo and co-authors published the following paper: Lazo, J.K., M. Lawson, P.H. Larsen, and D. M. Waldman, 2011: Sensitivity of the U.S. economy to weather variability. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 92.
The Societal Impacts Program Summer Weather and Society Webinar was held Tuesday, June 14, 2011. Dr. Jeff Lazo, the director of the Societal Impacts Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research gave a talk entitled, “Inundation or Ignorance? Public Perception of Storm Surge Risk.” To view and listen to this webinar or past webinars, please click here.
J. Demuth gave a presentation entitled "Social sciences, societal impacts, and weather" on June 15, 2011, at the NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop.
J. Demuth supported development and organization of the Atlanta Integrated Warning Team (IWT) workshop, held June 1-2, 2011.
R. Morss gave an invited talk entitled, “Communicating risk and uncertainty of extreme weather and flood events”; California Extreme Precipitation Symposium; Davis, CA; 28 Jun 2011.
May 2011
Researchers developed a survey for emegency managers as part of the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) Socio-Economic Impacts Assessment. The survey is undergoing peer review prior to programming, and a sample of approximately 115 coastal emergency managers has been identified and compiled. Implementation is scheduled for FY11Q3 (April-June) pending peer review and IRB approval.
April 2011
E. Laidlaw published and distributed the April 2011 edition of Weather and Society Watch
The Societal Impacts Program Spring Weather and Society Webinar was held Thursday, April 14, 2011. Dr. Renee Lertzman, the director of the Societal Impacts Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research gave a talk entitled, “Strange Weather... Feeling anxious about a changing climate?” To view and listen to this webinar or past webinars, please click here.
March 2011
J. Lazo gave a talk entitled, "Storm Surge Information: Public Perception and Preferences," as part of a webinar for the NOAA Storm Surge Team.
February 2011
J. Demuth and collaborators analyzed and summarized key issues that emerged from the first Forecast at a Glance (ForAAG) survey. Based on these findings, we are designing the second round of NWS user surveys, which will be implemented in FY11 Q3 (April - June).
January 2011
R. Morss gave a talk entitled, "How do people perceive and respond to flash flood risk and warnings?" at the Joint Session on Risk Communication of Weather and Climate at the AMS annual meeting in Seattle, WA.
J. Lazo gave a talk entitled, "Assessing the Publics' Need for Storm Surge Warning Information," at the AMS annual meeting in Seattle, WA.
J. Demuth and E. Laidlaw organized and ran a WAS*IS booth as part of the AMS annual meeting career fair.
E. Laidlaw published the April 2011 edition of Weather and Society Watch, which was distributed to approximately 450 subscribers and an additional 300 people at the AMS annual meeting.
Ongoing & Undated 2011
A complete draft manuscript for the Communication of Forecast Uncertainty (CoFU) cross-analysis project has been developed and internally edited and reviewed. The manuscript is now in the hands of the lead author (external to NCAR) for final revisions prior to submitting to Weather, Climate and Society.
E. Laidlaw updated Extreme Weather Sourcebook tornado, flood, and composite data to $2008.
The Societal Impacts Program Winter Weather and Society Webinar was held Tuesday, December 14, 2010. Jennifer Spinney gave a talk entitled, “Weather Knowledge and Vulnerability in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.” To view and listen to this webinar or past webinars, please click here.
November 2010
Demuth and Lazo presented "SIP's Social Science Research on Tornadoes, Flash Floods, and Hurricanes," at the annual Research Applications Laboratory (RAL) retreat
October 2010
E. Laidlaw published the October 2010 edition of SIP's Weather and Society Watch. To view a PDF copy of this edition, please click here. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.
J. Demuth gave a presentation about social science and SIP’s research efforts at the NWS Western Region SOO/DOH meeting.
September 2010
J. Demuth and E. Laidlaw attended the Kansas IWT workshop, giving presentations and providing social science support.
SIP researchers gave a poster presentation on research from the Warning Decisions in Extreme Weather Events: An Integrated Multi-Method Approach (WDEWE) project at the NSF Human and Social Dynamics Grantees Conference.
J. Lazo and J. Demuth presented on social sciences at the NWS SAFER workshop.
E. Laidlaw, J. Demuth and J. Lazo planned and implemented the 2010 Summer WAS*IS Workshop, held in Boulder, CO, with 28 participants.
R. Morss was a lead author on the following publication: Morss, R. E., 2010: Interactions among flood predictions, decisions, and outcomes: A synthesis of three cases.” Natural Hazards Review, 11, 83-96.
July 2010
E. Laidlaw published the July 2010 edition of SIP's Weather and Society Watch. To view a PDF copy of this edition, please click here. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.
R. Morss was a lead author on the following publication: Morss, R. E., and M. H. Hayden, 2010: Storm surge and “certain death”: Interviews with Texas coastal residents following Hurricane Ike. Weather, Climate, and Society, 2, 174-189.
Lazo presented, “Integrating Social Science and Weather Forecasting: One Perspective from the United States,” at Agencia Estatal de Meteorología.
June 2010
E. Laidlaw gave a presentation to 25 undergraduates as part of the 2010 NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop.
T. Behler, J. Lazo, and E. Laidlaw conducted the first-ever WAS*IS Caribbean workshop in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with 23 participants from 12 countries in the Caribbean region.
J. Demuth attended a doctoral seminar entitled “Thinking Dangerously: Teaching, Research, and Public Scholarship about Communication, Disaster, and Risk.”
May 2010
SIP researchers gave presentations on research from Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) Socio-Economic Impacts Assessment (HFIP) at the Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference and the 2nd NOAA Testbed Workshop.
E. Laidlaw presented results from Storm Data research at the AMS Annual Meeting, the Storm Data Users Meeting, the Second NOAA Testbed Worksho, and the and Weather and Society * Integrated Studies Summer Workshop.
R. Morss, J. Lazo and J. Demuth published the following paper for the Communicating Forecast Uncertainty – Analysis of Decision Scenarios (AnDeS) project: Morss, R. E., J. K. Lazo, and J. L. Demuth, 2010: Examining the use of weather forecasts in decision scenarios: Results from a U.S. survey with implications for uncertainty communication. Meteorological Applications, 17, 149-162.
J. Demuth gave a presentations on research from the Forecast at a Glance (ForAAG) project at the 2nd NOAA Testbed Workshop in Boulder, CO.
April 2010
E. Laidlaw published the April 2010 edition of SIP's Weather and Society Watch. To view a PDF copy of this edition, please click here. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.
T. Behler, E. Laidlaw, and J. Lazo planned and facilitated the second WAS*IS webinar.
R. Morss gave a talk entitled, "Improving communication of weather and climate risk information,” at The Pennsylvania State University.
March 2010
J. Lazo gave an invited talk entitled, “Socio-Economic Research on Hurricane Forecasts and Warnings,” at the Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference.
February 2010
R. Morss gave a talk entitled, "How do people use hurricane forecasts and warnings,” at the EMC/MMM/DTC Joint Hurricane Science Workshop in Boulder, CO.
January 2010
E. Laidlaw published an article entitled “The Controversy Over Outdoor Warning Sirens” in the January/February 2010 edition of Weatherwise magazine.
E. Laidlaw, J. Demuth and J. Lazo planned and implemented the annual “Friends of WAS*IS and SPC” reception at the AMS annual meeting.
SIP researchers presented work from the Communicating Hurricane Information (CHI) project at the AMS annual meeting.
J. Demuth gave a presentations on research from the Forecast at a Glance (ForAAG) project at the AMS annual meeting in Atlanta, GA.
E. Laidlaw published the "supersize" January 2010 edition of Weather and Society Watch (volume 4) and coordinated the distribution of the newsletter to 350 attendees of the AMS annual meeting.
T. Behler, E. Laidlaw, and J. Lazo planned and facilitated the first-ever WAS*IS webinar.
J. Demuth manned a booth in conjunction with the American Meteorological Society Policy Program at the Student CareerFair held during the AMS annual meeting in Atlanta, GA to discuss SIP, WAS*IS, and other general social science questions with students.
Ongoing & Undated 2010
J. Lazo and co-authors submitted a manuscript for the Overall U.S. Sector Sensitivity Assessment (OUSSSA) entitled, "Sensitivity of the U.S. Economy to Weather Variability" Economic Inquiry
J. Demuth submitted a paper for the SPUV and CoFU Geospatial Analysis (SCGA) project entitled “Exploring Variations in People’s Sources, Uses, and Perceptions of Weather Forecasts” to Weather, Climate, and Society.
E. Laidlaw and J. Lazo continued work on a draft paper for Storm Data
J. Lazo submitted a paper to Yuejiang Academic Journal for his work on the Supercomputer Benefit-Cost Analysis (SuperComp) project.
J. Lazo submitted a draft chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Economic Forecasting (Handbook) project entitled, "Economic Value of Weather and Climate Forecasts,” with co-author Rick Katz, received and addressed reviewer comments, and submitted the final manuscript for publication.
E. Laidlaw conducted promotion efforts for the Societal Impacts Discussion Board, increasing the number of subscribers by nearly 60% to 461 subscribers as of the end of FY10.
E. Laidlaw and R. Gaddie continued work on an internal database for literature reviews.
E. Laidlaw and R. Gaddie, along with WAS*IS collaborator Greg Dobson, began work on the WAS*IS mapping project which, when completed, will allow all WAS*IS alumni to connect with each other and other interested collaborators through a GIS-based application that lists alumni’s locations, contact information and professional specialties.
J. Demuth was a co-author on a paper entitled "Meteorology, Climatology, and the Communication and Interpretation of Weather Information during the 22 May 2008 Weld County, Colorado Tornado,” submitted to Weather and Forecasting.
J. Lazo served as editor for the AMS publication Weather, Climate, and Society.
J. Demuth served as a co-chair for the Fifth Symposium on Policy and Socio-Economic Research at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Atlanta, Ga.
R. Morss served on the AMS Council.
SIP personnel continued to be involved in WMO activities through membership in working groups and forum and participation in WMO sponsored conferences and meetings.
R. Morss served on the NRC Committee on Progress and Priorities of U.S. Weather Research and Research-to-Operations Activities, which published the following report: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12888&page=R1.
