Start
February 13, 2017 - 3:30 pm
End
February 16, 2017 - 4:00 pm
Address
120 David L. Boren Blvd, Suite 5600, Norman, OK 73068 View mapCategories
Convective Meteorology (Mesoscale Dynamics)Forecaster Cognitive Workload
With increasing amounts of data becoming available to forecasters, the question of how rapidly-updating phased array radar data will affect forecasters’ cognitive workload is of interest. In this seminar, an overview of cognitive workload will be given, including examples of the types of methods and tools that can be used to measure a person’s cognitive demands. The chosen tool for assessing forecaster cognitive workload during the 2015 Phased Array Radar Innovative Sensing Experiment was the Instantaneous Self-Assessment (ISA) tool. Thirty NWS forecasters used this tool to provide retrospective subjective assessment of cognitive workload at 5-min intervals for nine archived phased array radar cases. Forecasters worked these cases with 1-min, 2-min, or 5-min volumetric updates, and the weather scenarios presented null events, severe hail and/or wind events, or tornado events. Using this tool, forecasters rated their experienced cognitive workload on a scale of 1–5: under-utilized (1), relaxed (2), comfortable (3), high (4), and excessive (5). Additionally, forecasters provided reasoning for each of their ISA ratings. During this seminar, we will discuss the findings of forecasters’ ISA ratings and associated reasoning, as well as the possibility of personality being an important component of experienced cognitive workload