SBIR-STTR Award

In this Phase I effort, PEMDAS Technologies and Innovations (PEMDAS), in collaboration with subcontractor Westover Studios, proposes to assess the feasibility of developing an innovative tool that allows forecasters to easily provide real-time threat tracking information to be used by the public to confirm the existence and location of a weather- or water-related hazards in a manner that a nonscientific user can understand. Combining Westover’s experience in the innovative communication of actionable information to the public with PEMDAS’ expertise in the areas of operational meteorology, impacts assessment, and decision support tools, we propose the design and development of the Weather “Action-Chain” Enabler (Weather ACE) application. As outlined in the proposal, research will focus on developing a comprehensive understanding of what is needed to facilitate end-user response upon receipt of time-sensitive actionable information along with the associated technologies needed to enable each component of the action-chain. An extensive review and evaluation of currently available literature and technologies will be conducted in assessment and design of the Weather ACE application. A demonstration of the pre-prototype feasibility of coupling NWS forecast products with userdefined alert criteria to generate color-coded point and polygon impact assessments will be conducted.SUMMARY OF

Anticipated Results:
The outcome of this Phase I effort will be the development of a preliminary design for the Weather ACE application based on a comprehensive assessment of available technologies capable of meeting NWS operational requirements. During Phase II, we will finalize the design of the complete prototype, evaluate it with respect to the requirements and specifications from Phase I, fabricate a working prototype, and evaluate its performance.

In this Phase II effort, PEMDAS Technologies and Innovations (PEMDAS), in collaboration with subcontractor Westover Studios, proposes to develop a functional prototype of the Weather “Action Chain” Enabler (ACE) application using the technologies identified, knowledge gained, and preliminary design conceived during the Phase I effort. As designed, the Weather ACE application will be a non-intrusive software solution that leverages geo-fencing technologies to correlate user location (static or mobile), with weather threats or hazards (as forecast by NWS forecasters), to provide targeted and tailored alerts and notifications to affected users in a format designed to evoke safety seeking responses. As outlined in the proposal, supplemental research will drive closure to open items illuminated during Phase I, and will be used to refine and finalize the Phase I preliminary design from which the prototype will be constructed. The functionality of the Weather ACE application will be demonstrated to Government Stakeholders at the conclusion of this Phase II SBIR.