# Presentation: 549573

## The (Near) Future of  the NDFD

- Shannon White OCWWS

## Outline

**Timeline to NDFD IOC**
**Status of Grids**
**Experimental to Official Guidelines**
**Where Are We Now?**
**Customer Support for NDFD**
**Feedback on NDFD**
**Technical Workshop**
**Partners Meeting**
**Comments on weather.gov Graphics**

## Status of Grids

**NWS Director has requested a comprehensive review of the digital services program **
**Based on this review and the outcome of the DSPO action teams, a decision will be made on when and what elements will be made official NWS products**
**This decision and timeline to NDFD IOC will be publicized on June 30**

## Experimental to Official Guidelines

**Timeliness is measured as**
**95%** of offices have necessary grids to the NDFD server 90% of the time for new day 7
- For CONUS 112 of 117 offices
**Completeness is measured as**
- All necessary time periods for all elements are available **95%** of the time
- No holes!
**Consistency is measured as**
- Inter-office differences on each grid falls within the threshold defined in 10-506 **90%** of the time
- Allows for true meteorological discrepancies

## Status of ElementsCONUS Only

**30-day stats ending 4/11**
**MaxT**** **
**Completeness – ****98.3%**
**Timeliness – ****92.3%**
**Consistency – ****94.0%**** **
**MinT**
**Completeness – ****99.2%**
**Timeliness – ****99.2%**
**Consistency – ****94.7%**
**Meets Criteria****   ****Within 5% of Criteria****   ****More than 5% below Criteria**

## Status of Elements

**30-day stats ending 4/11**
**Wind**
**Completeness – ****97.4%**
**Timeliness – ****87.2%**
**Consistency – ****99.5% ****(spd)**** ****79.9%**** ****(dir)**
**Sky**
**Completeness – ****91.5%**
**Timeliness – ****82.1%**
**Consistency – ****93.0%**

## Status of Elements

**30-day stats ending 4/11**
**Wx**** **
**Completeness –  ****97.4%**
**Timeliness –  ****89.7%**
**Consistency – N/A**
**PoP12**
**Completeness –  ****98.2%**
**Timeliness –  ****93.1%**
**Consistency –  ****95.1%**

## Status of Elements

**30-day stats ending 4/11**** **
**Wave Height**
**Completeness –  Not Measured Yet**
**Timeliness – N/A (not a 7 day element)**
**Consistency –  ****99.5%**

## Status of Elements

**30-day stats ending 4/11**** **
**T**
**Completeness –  ****95.7%**
**Timeliness –  ****83.8%**
**Consistency –  ****91.0%**
**Td**
**Completeness –  ****94.9%**
**Timeliness –  ****81.2%**
**Consistency –  ****83.0%**

## Status of Elements

**30-day stats ending 4/11**** **
**QPF**
**Completeness –  ****76.1%**
**Timeliness – N/A (not a 7 day element)**
**Consistency –  ****98.0%**

## Needed Grids for Completeness

**        ****Day 1          Day 2         Day 3          Day 4         Day 5         Day 6         Day 7         Day 8**

**Grids with green background are “insurance” grids**
**Grids shown are just for NDFD, not all 10-503 product creation or 10-506 rqmts**
**Necessary coverage is shown – group wx, sky, wind, PoP according to met need**

## Help with Timeliness

**Send earlier!**
**Only send NDFD and Service Backup grids when data has changed – not on a chron**
**Reduce elements being sent for service backup to reduce routine traffic on network**
**Helps everything move faster**
**Only send elements via ISC that are being collaborated**
**Again, reduces unnecessary traffic **

## Customer Service

**What happens if a customer has a question?**
**The Telecommunications Gateway will be the official contact for all customer questions**
**Whether the question concerns content, access, etc., a customer will open a ticket with the Gateway **
**The NCF will be given the ticket and, if needed, will call the WFOs about consistency or content issues**
**The NCF will pass the information on to the Gateway who will then close out the ticket with the customer      **

## Feedback from NDFD    Technical Workshop 

**Held on August 13 in response to requests at the AMS meeting **
**About 50 customers and partners in attendance**
**Some key questions/requests**
**Can collaboration thresholds be tightened**
**Can we view consistency information**
**Will grids ever be smoothed to erase artificial discontinuities**
**Need a “What’s New in the NDFD” page for customers**

## Feedback from          Technical Workshop con’t

- Expand NDFD to Gulf, Caribbean, oceans, world
- Expand to include fronts, jets and contaminants
**Feedback from Partners Workshop and AMS**
- Show us your verification scores!
- Give files in other formats besides GRIB2

## On a scale of 0 to 10 (10 highest), rate the technical quality of the graphical forecasts (e.g., forecast accuracy, timeliness, problems with display)

**Feedback from Internet Graphics**

## On a scale of 0 to 10 (10 highest), rate how easy you found the graphical forecast product/service to interpret and use

**Question 2**

## How often do you use the graphical forecast product/service?

**Notes:**
The “other” respondents were mainly people who said that this is their first time on the Graphical Forecast site.

## What is your affiliation?

## Who Are Our “Zeros”?

**91% of people who gave a zero rating on question 1, also did so for question 2**
**Many of the complaints on ease of use (legends needed, mouse-over feature, etc.) have been addressed**
**The graphs include all comments dating back to early October**
**Other complaints were slow downloads and incompatibility with Macintosh systems**
**9 of 11 who indicated an affiliation were Individuals**
**One was NWS (ITO) and another was emergency mgmt.**
**EMA was pointing out that data was 2 days old **
**Isolated problem**

## Comments on Graphics

**More detail needed on maps (topo, highways, cities, etc.)**
**Want to see AK and HI**
**Like the detail available**
**Easy to use and interpret**
**Want to see this product become permanent**

## Comments on Graphics

**Would like additional elements like:**
**Fronts, pressure, jets**
**Ceilings, visibility**
**Dewpoint depression**
**New element map combinations (user select)**
**More detail on weather grid (true ugly string) **
**More probabalistic information**

## Questions?Comments?

## What Does This Mean?

**The decision to go official with Group 1 grids will be made by ****3/31/04**
**The decision on Group 2 grids will follow between ****3/31/04**** and ****6/30/04**
**The extra time allows:**
**Offices to improve timeliness, completeness and consistency stats**
**NDFD server issues to be addressed**
**For the analysis of customer feedback**
**No new elements will be added in 2004**

## How Elements Become Official

- Experimental grids are measured against certain criteria to become official
**Timeliness**
**Completeness**
**Consistency**
**No significant decrease in quality**
**Measured using point data over a defined period compared to CCF/PFM**
**Subjective analysis of customer comments**
**Customer service and records retention plans in place**

## NDFD Element Timeline

**Grids have been separated into 2 groups**
**Group 1**** - MaxT, MinT, PoP12 (UTC), Wind, Wx, WaveHt, Sky**
**Group 2**** - T, Td, QPF, SnowAmt **
**Operations Sub-committee of CB making decision on new IOC path on 3/10**
**Will determine if comment period is extended and timeline for transitioning to official (likely decision by 6/30)**