National Weather Service Professional Development Series Professional Competency Unit

Description of Job Duty Competency to be Achieved

Validate quality and accuracy of observed and forecast Hydrometeorological data sets to improve hydrologic forecasts.

Description of Need

To meet agency goals for more accurate hydrologic forecasts, verification is required to identify areas needing improvement.

Specific Job Task Skills and Knowledge

1. Populate database with observed and forecast hydrometeorological data needed for post analysis.

2. Use available tools to perform verification statistics.

3. Interpret data from the National Precipitation Verification Unit (NPVU) and use it to improve QPF assimilation skills.

4. Use knowledge of statistics to interpret output from local and national verification procedures.

Instructional Components

Instructional Component 4.1: - Web Module (Proposed): Hydrometeorological Verification. This module will describe nationally-applicable procedures used in the verification of hydrometeorological forecasts such as QPF. The role of the NPVU will be included.

Instructional Component 4.2: - Local/Regional Workshops: Hydrometeorological Verification. These workshops will be held on an RFC or regional basis on the latest approaches for verifying QPFs and other forecast fields (e.g., temperature).

Instructional Component 4.3: - CD-ROM Tutorial: Database Applications. Tutorials on commercial database applications will be made available to field offices. These will help provide for the efficient management of the large databases required for verification.

Instructional Component 4.4: - Station Library: Statistics Texts. Textbooks on statistics will be kept in station libraries to serve as reference materials for individuals interpreting verification procedure output.

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