# Presentation: 520001

## Coordination Of Your AQ Forecast Products With Local NWS Offices 

- Prepared by:
- George M. Bridgers
- NC Division of Air Quality
- Raleigh, NC
- The 2006 National Air Quality Conference
- Air Quality Forecasting Training Session
- San Antonio, TX
- February 5, 2006

## Outline

- Brief history of the NCDAQ – NWS relationship
- Persistence, Persistence, Persistence...			...the keys to our success
- Coordination activities with Raleigh NWS
- Demonstration of RAH WFO AQ forecast products (Web and NOAA Weather Radio)
- Future development / direction
- Questions, comments, & open discussion

## Historical Overview (1 of 2)

- NCDAQ began AQ forecasting in the Summer of 1997
- By the Summer of 1999, the NC Air Awareness Program had grown with forecast regions across the state
- The primary forecast distribution methods were emails, web site, faxes, and local television weathercasts

## Historical Overview (2 of 2)

- NCDAQ desired a collaboration and partnership with the local NWS WFOs to help distribute the AQ forecasts
- The Raleigh nor Greer WFOs were not interested in such a relationship for many years – separate core missions
-  “Changing Of The Guard” at the Raleigh WFO sparked a refreshed openness to a partnership

## The Keys To Our Success (1 of 3)

- Persistence, persistence, persistence
- Patience, patience, and even more patience
- In the end, it was a combination of luck with years of coordination attempts and an increased focus within NWS on air quality

## We established a level of credibility with the local NWS WFOs
Active participation in the local AMS chapter and at numerous local meteorological conferences and events
Professional friendships through chance meetings at these functions ultimately fostered our relationship with the Raleigh WFO

- Active participation in the local AMS chapter and at numerous local meteorological conferences and events
- Professional friendships through chance meetings at these functions ultimately fostered our relationship with the Raleigh WFO

- The Keys To Our Success (2 of 3)

## Get to know the Meteorologist-in-Charge (MIC) at the NWS WFO
The Science Operations Officer (SOO) and the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) are great points of contact
Above all else, make sure you introduce yourself to the Administrative Assistant at the NWS WFO

- The Science Operations Officer (SOO) and the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) are great points of contact
- Above all else, make sure you introduce yourself to the Administrative Assistant at the NWS WFO

- The Keys To Our Success (3 of 3)

## Coordination Activities (1 of 6)

- Once the lines of communication were open, a face to face meeting was immediately held
- All of the NCDAQ AQ forecasters
- Adjacent AQ Forecast Program representatives (FCEAD)
- NC Air Awareness representatives
- WCM and Information Technology Officer (ITO) from Raleigh WFO

## Coordination Activities (2 of 6)

## Coordination Activities (3 of 6)

- The meeting was truly a “Brainstorming” session by all parties
- Having the ITO present was critical to a very successful plan of action
- A realistic schedule of activities by all participants of the meeting was set and frequent but brief coordination emails were exchanged

## Coordination Activities (4 of 6)

- The Raleigh WFO ITO, Jonathan Blaes, created the following internal process at the RAH WFO:
- An FTP script to pull the master forecast.csv file from ftp.airnowdata.org
- A Perl program processes the forecast.csv file looking for the desired locations and days of interest to create an output file
- The output file is then transmitted to AWIPS and then out to the weather wire to external users
- Another Perl program creates output that is ingested into the CRS system and then broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio

## Coordination Activities (5 of 6)

- Extensive testing of this multi-step process was conducted by Jonathan to discover any problems or process inconsistencies over the course of several weeks
- A series of test products were exchanged throughout the larger planning group for additional comments

## Coordination Activities (6 of 6)

- The Raleigh WFO web site, weather wire, and NOAA Weather Radio AQ forecast products were debuted at the start of the 2005 “Ozone” Forecast Season
- Additional coordination with Raleigh WFO started this Fall/Winter to work with the Greer WFO to get all of the NC AQ Forecast Regions represented

## Product Demonstration (1 of 7)

- Live Internet demonstration:_[http://www.weather.gov/](http://www.weather.gov/)__[http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/](http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/)__[http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/airquality/](http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/airquality/)__[http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/data/RDUAQIRAH.html](http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/data/RDUAQIRAH.html)_
- Static demonstration: *(Next 5 Slides)*

## Product Demonstration (2 of 7)

## Product Demonstration (3 of 7)

## Product Demonstration (4 of 7)

## Product Demonstration (5 of 7)

## Product Demonstration (6 of 7)

## Product Demonstration (7 of 7)

- Audio demonstrations from NOAA Weather Radio:	Code Green – Good	Code Yellow – Moderate	Code Orange – USG / Action Day

## Future Developments (1 of 3)

- Only half of the NCDAQ AQ forecast regions are represented by the Raleigh WFO
- Coordination with the Greer WFO is just beginning with the hope of a similar partnership established by May 2006
- The successes with the Raleigh WFO are the model for this growth

## Future Developments (2 of 3)

- The majority of the code that Jonathan developed at the Raleigh WFO is portable
- With only minor script adjustments and some front-end reformatting for different AQ forecast agencies, the code could work in any NWS WFO in the nation

## Future Developments (3 of 3)

- The Perl program that prepares the AQ forecast for NWR needs further refinement before it is primetime or would be acceptable by other WFOs.
- We hope that our interactions with Greer will perfect the entire process and serve as a roadmap for others
-  Coordination nationally viaAIRNow?

## Questions and Comments

- Contact Information:
- George M. BridgersNC Division of Air QualityGeorge.Bridgers@ncmail.net(919) 715-6287