National Weather Service Professional Development Series

General Information on PDS

The Professional Development Series (PDS) is a concept adopted by the National Weather Service to provide a framework for its training program. Each PDS corresponds to a specific job responsibility and describes and defines what is means to perform competently for that job responsibility. The concept helps NWS personnel to focus on what they should be able to do. The PDS document combines both scientific and technical understanding with professional skills and techniques. Each PDS series is based on developing a performance capability to support user products and services.

Each PDS is composed of a series of Professional Competency Units (PCU) which describe specific job duties. The PCU document has several components:

The basic idea behind the PDS concept is that if an individual who needs to perform a specific job responsibility (PDS) has a weakness or deficiency in some job duty (PCU), he/she can easily find a training package (instructional component or IC) to bring his/her performance back to where it should be. The delivery methods used for each IC can vary from residence courses to teletraining to CD-ROM to web-based instruction to old fashion paper-based modules.

Master NWS PDS 'FUN Chart'

The chart below shows all Professional Development Series (PDS) and associated Professional Competency Units (PCU). Following each PDS title is that status of each PCU in that PDS. The status is color and letter coded as follows:

PDS Status as of 08/30/2004:

• Green 22.1%
• Orange 55.8%
• Red 22.1%

Recent changes or updates to PDS material

• Climate PDS (08/30/2004)
• Marine PDS (07/06/2004)
• Convective PDS (11/17/2003)

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Aviation PDS

Forecasting Aviation Icing

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

5 U

6 U

7 N

8 N

9 N

Forecasting Turbulence

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

Impact of Aviation Weather on Customers

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

CWSU On-Station Systems/Operations

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

5 N

6 N

Issuing Effective CWSU Products

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

Forecasting Low-Altitude Clouds and Fog for Aviation Operations

1 U

2 N

3 U

4 U

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Convective PDS

Severe Convection Forecasting and Warnings

1 F

2 F

3 F

4 F

5 F

6 F

7 F

8 F

9 F

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Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Meteorology PDS

Numerical Weather Prediction

1 F

2 U

3 U

Integrated Sensor Training

1 U

2 U

3 N

4 N

5 F

6 U

7 U

8 U

9 U

Marine Weather Services

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

8 U

9 U

10 U

11 U

12 U

Climate Services

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Forecaster Development Program PDS

Forecaster Development Program Overview

PCU 1 Organizational Structure and Administration

PCU 2 Observational Instrumentation, Remote Sensing, Intepretation and Data Management

PCU 3 Forecast Process

PCU 4 Forecast Science and Operational Programs

PCU 5 Operational Applications, Troubleshooting and Dissemination

PCU 6 Customer Service and Outreach

PCU 7 Professional Development and Leadership

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Management/ Leadership/ Supervision PDS

Office Management and Administration

1 F

2 U

3 F

4 F

Leadership

1 F

Human Resource Management

1 F

2 F

3 U

Customer/Partner Service Management

1 N

2 N

Administrative Support Assistant

1 F

2 F

3 F

4 F

5 F

6 F

7 F

8 F

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Hydrology PDS

Assimilating Hydrometeorological Data

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 N

5 U

Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 N

Hydrologic Forecasting

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 N

8 U

9 U

10 U

11 N

12 U

Extended-Range Hydrologic Forecasting

1 U

2 U

3 N

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

Model Calibration and Hydrologic Procedure Development

1 U

2 U

3 N

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

8 U

9 U

10 U

11 N

Forecasting Flash Flood and Dam Failure Events

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 N

6 U

Assessing Near-Term Hydrologic Guidance and Issuing Public Forecasts

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

Managing the Hydrology Program

1 F

2 F

3 U

4 F

5 F

6 F

7 F

8 F

9 F

10 F

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

AWIPS PDS

Implementing Local Applications on AWIPS

1 F

2 F

3 F

4 F

5 F

AWIPS System Administration and Maintenance

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

8 U

9 U

10 U

11 U

12 U

Operating AWIPS

1 N

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 N

6 U

7 U

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Engineering PDS

Facilities Maintenance

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

Facilities Management

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

Environmental Compliance

1 U

2 U

3 U

WSR-88D Maintenance

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 N

8 N

9 N

10 N

11 N

12 N

NWR Maintenance

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

8 U

9 U

10 U

11 U

12 U

Upper Air (Profiler) Maintenance

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

8 U

9 U

Data Acquisition/ Dissemination System Maintenance

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 U

8 U

IT Systems and Network Support

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

7 N

8 N

9 N

10 N

11 N

General Engineering Skills

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 F

Safety and Health

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

ASOS (PACE) Maintenance

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

5 N

6 N

7 N

8 N

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

DAPM/HMT PDS

Coop Program Management

1 F

2 F

3 F

4 F

5 F

6 F

7 F

Surface Observing Program

1 U

2 U

3 U

4 U

5 U

6 U

Upper Air Program

1 N

2 N

3 N

4 N

5 N

Professional Development Series (PDS)

Professional Competency Units (PCU) Status

Fire Weather PDS

Fire Weather

1 F

2 F

3 F

4 F

Incident Meteorologist (IMET)

1 F

Comments or Questions on PDS or this Chart?

Contact Mike Dion.