A BSTRACT / INTRODUCTION

1. CRAFTING AN ENTERTAINING AND INFORMATIVE WEATHER DISPLAY AT THE LUBBOCK SCIENCE SPECTRUM ABSTRACT / INTRODUCTION The National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Lubbock, Texas is co-located with the Science Spectrum, a popular non-profit museum for science education. The Science Spectrum serves over 150,000 persons annually at the museum facility. Teachers, students, families and individual visitors come to the museum from a large region of West Texas and eastern New Mexico for hands-on science activities, film (Omni Theater), live presentations and exhibitions. This arrangement presented an excellent opportunity for WFO Lubbock office to promote the science of weather and reach thousands of visitors daily, thereby increase the visibility of the NWS. In 2004, WFO Lubbock formed a team to design and construct a professional, INTERACTIVE weather information display. The goal was to both educate and entertain children and adults alike, with an emphasis on severe weather preparedness information. Through close partnership with Science Spectrum management, the display was given a prominent location within the museum. The team designed, constructed and deployed the display during the winter, spring and summer of 2004. This poster summarizes the construction and development, educational features, and future expansion plans of the display. LCD MONITOR • 50 inch-wide LCD Monitor – anchors the entire display • Continuously cycling short presentation • Weather phenomena – satellite and radar loops • Forecasting techniques • Local events • Tornado that hit Happy, TX on 5 May 2002 • National events • Hurricane Katrina • Educational Topics • Lightning • Flash floods • Weather safety INTERACTIVE ADDITIONAL POSTERS/SIGNAGE • One poster, located to the left of the LCD monitor, provides a short history of the: • NWS Lubbock office • Co-operative observer program • Another poster, to the right of the LCD monitor: • Displays the geographic region the NWS Lubbock serves • Gives a brief introduction to some of the most important and popular products and forecasts the office produces • A third poster, located to the right of the wind readout : • Shows a schematic of an NWS Automated Observing System (ASOS) and explains all the different components COMPONENTS OVERVIEW 1. Large LCD Monitor – centerpiece 2. Touch-screen Monitor 3. Interactive Web Browser 4. Instrumented Tower 5. NOAA Weather Radio Display 6. Additional Posters/Signage INTERACTIVE WEB DISPLAY • Critical interactive component to the display which employs a rugged, industrial touchpad in lieu of a mouse • Allows users access to a large variety of weather-related websites (educational and governmental) using a live internet connection • Several web pages were developed to navigate to a number of select topics including: • Local NWS Lubbock Homepage • Radar page - featuring local and national links • Satellite page – covering the whole globe and various regions • Surface maps – a wide variety from local to international • Storms page - highlighting thunderstorms, hurricanes, dust storms, and much more • Other cool links page – a variety of miscellaneous interesting and educational sites from around the world • For security purposes, user is limited to .edu and .gov domains (with a few exceptions) utilizing Microsoft Windows security settings NOAA WEATHER RADIO DISPLAY • Exposes guests to any one of the live NOAA All-hazards radio broadcasts originating from the NWS Lubbock office, including: • Impending hazards (watches, warnings, and advisories) • Routine weather observations • Forecasts, climate and select non-weather hazards • User selects weather broadcast of interest by pushing the appropriate button and while the button is depressed: • The audio broadcast for that transmitter plays • A light illuminates displaying the approximate location of the transmitter and transmitter coverage on a regional map • Explains how and where to obtain a NOAA All-hazards radio • Display housed in a refurbished Automation of Field Operations and Services (AFOS) computer housing This is the completed exhibit - located in the Science Spectrum museum Lubbock, Texas INSTRUMENTED TOWER • 7-ft tower with three-cup and vane anemometer and flanking tower lights • DC fan (powered by generator that runs off of energy supplied by operator of bicycle) propels anemometer, with output speed proportional to input pedal power • Wind speed and direction indicators display operator effort (in knots), allowing for fun, yet fair competition and learning • Signage explains units and unit conversion, with an introduction to the Beaufort Scale MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP THE SCIENCE SPECTRUM • Little day-to-day maintenance is required • Display is checked twice daily to: • Ensure everything is functioning properly • Power large LCD monitor off when the Science Spectrum is closed to prolong its lifespan • The two PCs that run the Interactive Web Display and Touch-Screen must occasionally be rebooted if there has been a temporary power or internet outage (access is gained through doors on the back of the display cabinet) ◄To the left is a view of the back side of the display cabinet To the right ► is an example of one of the many access points to the equipment within the cabinet • To the left is the view from the front of the Science Spectrum. The Science Spectrum(www.sciencespectrum.com) contains a flight museum and OMNI theater among its attractions and exhibits. It also : • Hosts 150,000 persons annually • Attracts visitors from a large region of West Texas and eastern New Mexico • Puts on many different educational shows throughout the year, further attracting return visitors Mark Conder, Steve Cobb, Carl Hill, Brian Lamarre, Gary Skwira, and Justin Weaver, National Weather Service, Lubbock TX Ed Calianese, National Weather Service, Tulsa OK Larry Vannozzi, National Weather Service, Nashville TN John Hickman, National Weather Service, Hastings NE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT Several early drawings of the display. These schematics were created after a brainstorming session by individuals interested in participating in the project’s development TOUCH-SCREEN • Organized like a website (using html) • Can select from a wide variety of topics, such as: • In depth F-scale discussion/explanation • A Local copy of the NWS “Jetstream” educational website • Weather jokes • Weather quiz (with “easy” and “hard” versions) KEEPING THE EXHIBIT UP-TO-DATE In order to keep the exhibit engaging and maintain interest with repeat visitors presentation material should be periodically updated with timely and popular weather subjects. An example might be the addition of an introduction to the ENSO cycle and links to current information. The weather jokes and weather quiz section of the touch screen display are two components particularly sensitive to growing stale for repeat visitors and will benefit from revision. In addition, the nature of the internet requires that website links be frequently checked and updated as necessary. The NOAA weather radio display will also be updated as new transmitters come online. EXPANSION IDEAS • We would like to add additional interactive components to the display. Discussions have included: • tornado simulator- where users can envision what factors come together to produce a tornado • weather map production studio - where kids and adults alike can produce their own weather maps • virtual instrument lab - where anyone can experiment with the equation of state