General Information |
Estimated IC Completion Time |
135 min |
Description |
The AWOC Winter Weather Track teaches many concepts to help the NWS staff produce better forecasts. This Instructional Component, narrated by Andy Wood (WDTB), focuses on the impacts of weather on ground transportation, how transportation operators work to mitigate these impacts, and other important issues related to weather and the nation's roadways. These lessons focus on how transportation agencies operate, why they are interested in weather information, providing some basic information that will help NWS forecasters support DOT operations during hazardouse weather in order to help both organizations meet their respective missions.
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Testing Procedures |
Testing for Instructional Components (IC) lessons is provided to the student using the NWS Learning Management System (LMS). If testing is required, the test must be successfully completed in order to complete the lessons. A score of at least 70% on the exam is required to successfully complete each lesson. |
Lessons
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Lesson 1:
Winter AWOC IC 3 Overview
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Description |
The lesson provides the motivation for creating the course work in AWOC Winter IC 3.1, why the subject is significant, and what information is covered in the remaining lessons of this IC. A particular emphasis is placed on the NWS policy document "Guidance for NWS Support for State/Local Departments of Transportation" which was updated in June 2009. |
Estimated Lesson Completion Time |
15 min. |
Module Type |
Articulate Presenter
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| Resources |
Exercises |
None. |
Review Sheets & Hand Outs |
IC 3.1 student handout. |
Lesson Links |
NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s):
IC 3.1: Road Weather Overview
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Lesson 2:
Weather Impacts & Surface Transportation Management Strategies
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Description |
The lesson discusses the general impacts of weather on the nation's roadways and what departments of transportation (DOTs) do to mitigate those impacts. There is also significant discussion on warning-critieria and sub-advisory winter weather events, what enviromental parameters are most likely to indicate event severity for both types of events, and some detailed discussion on the environmental parameters that are key for sub-adivsory events. |
Estimated Lesson Completion Time |
40 min. |
Module Type |
Articulate Presenter
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| Resources |
Exercises |
None. |
Review Sheets & Hand Outs |
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Lesson Links |
NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s):
IC 3.2: Road Weather Impacts & Surface Transportation Management Strategies
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Lesson 3:
Tools for Monitoring Road Weather
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Description |
The lesson discusses the tools used surface transportation agencies to monitor weather conditions. When data is available from these tools (i.e., road weather information system (RWIS) observations), they can be very beneficial to NWS forecasters observing hazardous weather along the roadway environment. RWIS networks will be discussed in detail, including the potential uses and limitations. Accessing these data, as well as other local mesonet data, in AWIPS will also be demonstrated, with an emphasis on using the quality control test data from MADIS to ensure the observations received from these networks fall within acceptable standards. |
Estimated Lesson Completion Time |
30 min. |
Module Type |
Articulate Presenter
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| Resources |
Exercises |
None. |
Review Sheets & Hand Outs |
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Lesson Links |
NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s):
IC 3.3: Tools for Monitoring Road Weather
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Lesson 4:
The NWS-Ground Transportation Partnership
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Description |
The lesson touches on four topics mentioned in AWOC Winter IC 3.1-3.3 that impact partnership opportunities between the NWS and departments of transportation (DOTs) in their local area. Ultimately, the lessons goal is to encourage NWS forecasters to look for opportunities to work more closely with DOTs in their area that are appropriate based on NWS policy. |
Estimated Lesson Completion Time |
30 min. |
Module Type |
Articulate Presenter
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| Resources |
Exercises |
None. |
Review Sheets & Hand Outs |
IC 3.4 student handout |
Lesson Links |
NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s):
IC 3.4: The NWS-Ground Transportation Partnership
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Lesson 5:
Comparing Timelines of NWS Products & Ground Transportation Mitigation Strategy Implementation
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Description |
The lesson discusses how departments of transportation (DOTs) implement mitigation techniques in the context of NWS product issuance as an event unfolds. A basic concept of operations is presented that demonstrates how weather information fits into a DOT managers workflow. Then, the presentation discusses three hypothetical examples of adverse weather events (presented on a timeline) that might impact certain areas during the winter season to show how NWS and DOT actions fit together. |
Estimated Lesson Completion Time |
20 min. |
Module Type |
Articulate Presenter
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| Resources |
Exercises |
None. |
Review Sheets & Hand Outs |
IC 3.5 student handout |
Lesson Links |
NOAA employees should access this module via the NWS Learning Center as they will need to complete the exam and survey in the LMS to receive credit for completion. All others wishing to take this lesson should use the follow link(s):
IC 3.5: Comparing Timelines of NWS Products & Ground Transportation Mitigation Strategy Implementation
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Contact
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Email |
The Winter AWOC IC 3 Development Team |
Telephone |
(405) 573-3350 |