OHD/HL - RFCDEV/HVT: workshop1

First RFC Verification Workshop

The RFC Verification Workshop was held August 14-16, 2007 at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The workshop was coordinated by Julie Demargne of the Office of Hydrologic Development, Kevin Werner of Western Region Science Services Division, and Mary Mullusky of the Office of Climate Water and Weather Services. The workshop was attended by representatives from all RFCs, COMET, Central Region Headquarters, Western Region Headquarters, and one WFO. The topics covered included verification concepts and methodologies, effective strategies to communicate verification information, logistical verification, deterministic river forecast verification including the Interactive Verification Program (IVP) software and capabilities, and probabilistic river forecast verification including the Ensemble Verification System (EVS) software and capabilities. The topics were presented as lectures, software demonstrations, and hands on lab exercises. Overall, the workshop was well received with the most common feedback indicating that the workshop and training sessions need to be conducted yearly.

Goals of the Workshop

Promote an understanding of the existing verification tools and methodologies for both deterministic and probabilistic forecasts

Promote an understanding of the concepts, direction, and recommendations defined in the National Weather Service River Forecast Verification Plan report

Workshop Objectives

• OBJ1: Review verification concepts and methodologies (including how to compute verification metrics)
• OBJ2: Existing software capabilities, including enhancements scheduled for upcoming AWIPS Builds and available statistics
• National developments: Interactive Verification Program (IVP), Ensemble Verification System (EVS), Logistical Measures
• National current capabilities: NWS verification and NPVU verification pages
• Local capabilities
• Academia activities for hydrologic verification
• OBJ3: Discuss effective strategies to communicate the meaning of verification statistics to users, both within and outside the NWS
• OBJ4: Discuss the recommendations documented in the National Weather Service River Forecast Verification Plan report

Pre-Workshop

• Fill out the online verification survey


• Submit verification questions and forecast products to be verified on Day 1

Participants

Glossary of Forecast Verification Metrics

Workshop Agenda and Presentation Material

Workshop Deliverables

• Verification Workshop Survey Results
  (The file is in mht format. If your current browser is not Internet Explorer, please download the file and display it using Internet Explorer)
• Verification Questions
• Workshop Actions
• Workshop Final Discussion

Organizing committee:
Julie Demargne (OHD/HSMB)
Mary Mullusky (OCWWS/HSD)
Kevin Werner (WRH/SSD)