Dissemination of Warnings and Forecasts PWS Workshop Macao

Dissemination of Warnings and Forecasts PWS Workshop Macao, China, 18 April 2013 David Hui

Outline Strategy of Weather Information Dissemination New Dissemination Technologies and Methods Dissemination Systems for different channels

Strategy of Weather Information Dissemination Identify your users and determine their needs Design and customize products to fulfill user requirements Choose an effective dissemination media/channels Note the characteristics of different channels Note the presentation of information when choosing dissemination channel Keep abreast of development of new technologies and methods in communication Develop or acquire systems for weather information dissemination

4 Major Groups Users (1) - Hazard Community / Government Authorities User (2) – Weather Sensitive Economic Sectors User (3) – Mass Media (Print, TV, Radio) User (4) – General Public

Dissemination Channels for Different Users Dissemination Channels Hazard community / Government authorities Fax, Telephone, Email, SMS, Dedicated website, FTP Weather-sensitive economic sectors Fax, Telephone, Email, SMS, Dedicated website, FTP, Specialized Channel (e. g. NAVTEX) Media (press, radio, TV) Fax, SMS, FTP Public Website, Media, DAB, IVRS, Mobile app, SMS, Social Networking Websites, Weather Wizard, Electronic Display, Big Horn in Rural Areas

What’s new

Dissemination Techniques and Methods in Recent Years Mobile app Mobile website Social Networking websites Weather Wizard – SWIdget Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) Common Alert Protocol (CAP)

Mobile devices getting more and more popular Worldwide mobile device sales increased 32% in 2010 Smartphone sales in 2010 were up 72 percent from 2009 Source: Gartner, Inc. (http: //www. gartner. com)

Mobile data usage in Hong Kong Month April 2011 April 2010 Total Mobile Data Usage (Mbytes) Rise Mobile Data Usage per Customer (Mbytes) 2, 411, 014, 005 153% 951, 471, 487 Source: Office of Telecom Authority, Hong Kong 340. 3 171. 3 Rise 99%

Opportunities of personalized weather service Popularity of smartphone and affordable mobile data service charge Smartphone can detect user’s location Development of location-based weather service Timely weather information delivery, especially weather warning

My. Observatory – i. Phone app (Launched in March 2010, enhanced in July) Warning in force Temperature, RH, wind, rainfall at user’s location Hong Kong 7 -day forecast UV index Shortcut to weekly weather video on Youtube Weather Photo as background

My. Observatory – continuous enhancement For access to a suit of weather services Radar / Satellite Imageries Lightning Location Regional Weather Astronomy and Tide Information World Major Cities Forecast Marine Forecast for the coastal waters Observatory’s Blog Rainfall Distribution in Hong Kong Push Notification

My. Observatory – Interactive TC Track Tropical Cyclone Track on Google Map with geographical information Can be magnified and reduced Able to present multiple TCs at the same time Click on analysis or forecast positions to see details

My. Observatory on Android (Launched in Nov 2010)

Page view statistics of HKO mobile website

Ratio of HKO mobile to main websites usage

Merits of mobile app Enhanced user experience – faster and smoother Customized users interface and animation effects by vendors – not limited by conventional HTML (webpage) Smaller data volume – less loading for web server Lower bandwidth consumption – only 2%of conventional website! Able to obtain user’s location – provide personalized location-based service

Shortfalls and limitations Mobile platforms are diverse – 5 major platforms, viz. Symbian, i. Phone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Incompatible among different vendors High development efforts and maintenance cost Tend to cover the “high-end” market

Mobile website Revamped HKO mobile website launched in 1 st Quarter 2011 Improved navigation Automatically adopt to screen size of different mobile devices Better graphics possible in view of lowering of mobile data charges Personalized Theme

Benefits of mobile weather service Anytime – timely update Anywhere – not tie up with a PC Anyone – high penetration Economical – affordable by users Opportunity – personalized or location-based service Thrust – momentum for future’s growth

Use of Social Networking Website to find audience of younger generation

Twitter

Facebook

Weather Wizard (SWIdget on SWIC platform) A widget which allows users to obtain local severe weather warnings issued by official weather services in real time

Mechanism of how the warning dissemination works Participating Member : decides the list of warnings to be made available maintain the warnings in their web server using a standard format (XML) Hong Kong Observatory provides: the standard format the ‘weather wizard’ facility on SWIC Users: go to SWIC and download a simple program to install on their PC select warnings and set preference receive the warnings (from participating member ) when they are in force.

Universal Weather Wizard Mouse over WMO Member’s icon on the toolbar Mouse over the Member’s icon and show the warning status Members are highly encouraged to join the project!

Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) Digital version of FM/AM radio Feature a small screen to display text and image Will it become popular ? ?

Common Alert Protocol (CAP) XML based data format for exchanging public warnings and emergencies Allows a warning message to be consistently disseminated simultaneously over many warning systems to many applications Increase warning effectiveness Simplify the procedures for activating a warning

A comparison between various dissemination channels Dissemination Channels Merits Shortfalls / Limitations Target Users Telephone, Fax Stable; Low cost; Low interference Slow; Not effective for large no. of user Hazard community; Gov. ; Wxsensitive sectors SMS Stable; Deliver to selected users Mobile phone users only; Expensive (in HK) Hazard community; Gov. Evaluate Need thecomputerized effectiveness data Publicof various dissemination channels for Media (Radio, TV) Low cost; Fast Limited air time; Simple Public delivery yourmessage own country! IVRS Automatic; Stable; Low cost Website Fast delivery of voluminous info; Graphics possible Online user only Hazard community; Gov. ; Wxsensitive sectors Mobile applications Good user experience; Cost effective; Locationbased service possible Incompatible across various platforms; High maintenance cost Public

Develop/acquire systems for weather information dissemination Dissemination channels System to develop or acquire Prerequisite Telephone line (manual); Automatic Calling System (auto) Nil; Computerization Fax Manager Nil Website, Mobile applications Internet Content Management System Computerization FTP Automated Dissemination System Computerization SMS, Email Gateway to mobile service provider, Email gateway Nil, computerization perferred Auto telephone enquiry system IVRS Manual recording or computerized

Thank you