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APPEN DIX
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Summary of Survey Responses from
National Weather Service Employees with
Hydrologic Responsibilities
In April 1995 the Hydrology Panel of the National
Weather Service Modernization Committee (NWSMC) sup-
plied the NWS Office of Hydrology with a questionnaire
and asked that all NWS employees with hydrologic respon-
sibilities be provided copies. Recipients were instructed to
return the completed questionnaires directly to the NWSMC
anonymously. Out of a total of 275 questionnaires that
were distributed, 211 were completed and returned to the
NWSMC. The 77 percent response rate and the commentar-
ies received along with the questionnaires indicated a sig-
nificant level of cooperation and interest by NWS personnel
who have hydrologic responsibilities.
The chief objectives of the questionnaire were (1) to
gather basic statistics on the background and service history
of NWS personnel with hydrologic responsibilities, (2) query
personnel familiarity and perspectives on various compo-
nents of the NWS modernization program, and (3) provide
information to the NWSMC Hydrology Panel about NWS
offices not visited by the panel. The results of the question-
naire were used principally to support the NWSMC Hydrol-
ogy Panel's analysis of issues leading to the conclusions and
recommendations contained in this report. The questionnaire
yielded a useful profile of the NWS personnel with hydro-
logic responsibilities. This appendix provides a selective
summary of questionnaire quantitative results that are of ei-
ther historical or management interest and that are relevant
to the conclusions and recommendations in the report. Dif-
ferences in the responses of field personnel (primarily op-
erational duties) and those of managers/planners/research
personnel are discussed in the following sections.
PERSONNEL AGES AND SERVICE RECORDS
Of all the respondents, 75 percent had operational tasks in
NWS field offices. Eleven percent worked in management
and 13 percent held staff positions in the Office of Hydrol-
ogy or research laboratories. Table A-1 shows the age, years
of NWS service, and years of NWS service in hydrology
positions. The median age was 40; two-thirds of the work
49
TABLE A-1 Age and Years of Service of Survey
Respondents
Age Percentile
Service
Years of NWS Years in Hydrologic
Operational Duties
33rd percentile
Median
90th percentile
35
40
55
25
5
9.5
20
3
5.5
force were over 35 years of age. NWS personnel with hydro-
logic responsibilities had, as a median, 9.5 years of service at
the NWS. The median number of years in positions that in-
volve hydrologic duties was significantly less, at 5.5 years.
This implies that possibly a large fraction of NWS personnel
with hydrologic responsibilities transitioned into their cur-
rent positions from other NWS jobs unrelated to hydrology.
TRAINING AND BACKGROUND
The educational background of the respondents also re-
flects this transition to hydrologic operational duties from
other fields. Half of the respondents held degrees in hydrol-
ogy or closely related fields. Half of the respondents were
schooled formally in meteorology and received their hydro-
logic training through the NWS, the Cooperative Program
for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training
(COMET), or correspondence courses. Table A-2 shows the
TABLE A-2 Participation in Training Programs (in percent)
Personnel with
Course
Atmospheric
Sciences Degree
Personnel with
Hydrology
Related Degrees
NWS Training Center: Basic
Operational Hydrology
NWS Training Center:
Flash Flood
COMET
46
35
52
Correspondence courses 75
30
30
45
48
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so
ASSESSMENT OF HYDROLOGIC AND HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS AND SERVICES
TABLE A-3 Perceived Training Needs (in percent)
TABLE A-4 Perceived Training Needs Stratified by
Position (in percent)
Need Immediate Current Knowledge
Training Need Training Adequate Office of Hydrology
Training Need and Field Personnel Regional Personnel
Systems 48 16
Hydrologic processes 21 46 Systems 53 (10)a 34 (34)
River flood forecasting 25 42 Hydrologic 25 (45) 12 (57)
Flash flood forecasting 19 37 River flood 32 (40) 6 (52)
Use of QPF 20 29 Flashflood 21 (35) 12 (53)
Use of NEXRAD products 18 35
participation of NWS personnel with hydrologic responsi-
bilities in continuing education courses and training courses
offered by NWS. The level of participation is stratified ac-
cording to formal degree background. The largest differ-
ence between the two groups was the reliance on external
correspondence courses by those NWS personnel with hy-
drologic responsibilities who earned atmospheric science
degrees (75 percent for those with meteorology backgrounds
versus 48 percent for those with declared hydrology back-
grounds).i Chapter 4 of this report discusses of some key
. . .
training Issues.
Table A-3 shows that there were immediate needs for
training on NWS systems currently in use or coming online
as perceived by the NWS personnel themselves. Half of the
personnel perceived an immediate need for systems training,
whereas only 16 percent were comfortable with their current
level of knowledge. Conversely, nearly half of the respon-
dents believed that their knowledge of hydrologic processes
was adequate, whereas 21 percent expressed a strong desire
for additional education and training in this area. With re-
spect to operational topics such as river flood forecasting,
flash flood forecasting, and use of quantitative precipitation
forecasts (QPFs) and NEXRAD products, approximately
one-fifth of the personnel believed that they required imme-
diate training, whereas nearly one-third believed that they
did not need additional training.
When the perceived training needs are stratified accord-
ing to field personnel or management and research person-
nel (Table A-4), it is clear that the field personnel perceived
a greater need for systems training. Although only 34 per-
cent of management or research personnel reported an im-
mediate need for systems training, 53 percent of the field
personnel stated that they required additional training imme-
diately. Only 10 percent of the field personnel were confi-
dent about their current level of systems training, whereas
34 percent of the management or research personnel indi-
cated no immediate need for systems training. Similarly,
larger percentages of field personnel expressed an immedi-
ate need for training in hydrologic processes (25 percent),
iThe latter group includes those employees with degrees in fields such as
earth sciences or geology in which hydrology is not formally included as a
r
major IOCUS.
aNumbers indicate the percentage of respondents who reported an "im-
mediate need." Numbers in parenthesis are the percentages reporting "no
need."
river flood forecasting (32 percent), and flash flood forecast-
ing (21 percent). Respondents with management or research
duties perceived considerably less immediate need (12 per-
cent, 6 percent, and 12 percent, respectively).
FAM I LIARITY WITH MODERN IZATION
In responses to a series of questions designed to gauge the
familiarity that NWS personnel with hydrologic responsi-
bilities have with the NWS modernization program, impor-
tant strengths and deficiencies were identified. Table A-5
shows the range of responses to a number of topics. There
were mixed responses to the questions on familiarity with
the various parts of the modernization. Approximately one-
third of the respondents were very familiar, and one-third or
less were somewhat familiar or unfamiliar with topics such
as the NWS modernization, NWS hydrology modernization,
River Forecast Center (RFC) and Weather Forecast Office
(WFO) operations, and NEXRAD products.2 Apparently the
Precipitation Processing System (PPS), data quality control,
and Advanced Hydrologic Prediction System (AMPS) were
not widely recognized as familiar topics. Only a small mi-
nority (9 percent to 17 percent) of the personnel stated
that they are very familiar with these topics. The majority of
TABLE A-5 Responses to Familiarity Questions (in percent)
Aspect of Modernization
Very
Familiar
Somewhat Familiar
or Unfamiliar
NWS modernization
Hydrology modernization
RFC operations
WFO operations
NEXRAD products
Precipitation Processing System
Data quality control
AHPS
36
37
34
24
23
17
9
11
16
22
28
41
33
44
77
74
2The standard convention in survey methodology is to group "very fa-
miliar" with "somewhat familiar," as distinct from "unfamiliar." The re-
sponses are clustered differently here to highlight the "very familiar" re-
sponse, which is the desired response in terms of proficiency in carrying out
hydrology-related tasks in the context of the NWS modernization.
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APPENDIX
TABLE A-6 Responses to Familiarity Questions
Stratified by Position (in percent)
Field
Personnel
Aspect of Modernization
Office of Hydrology
and Regional Personnel
NWS modernization
Hydrology modernization
RFC operations
WFO operations
AHPS
29 (18)a
29 (22)
29 (29)
24 (38)
7 (80)
54 (12)
68 (10)
53 (19)
29 (41)
43 (31)
aNumbers indicate percentage of respondents who reported they were
"very familiar" with the topic. Numbers in parentheses are the percentages
that responded "somewhat familiar" or "unfamiliar."
the personnel rated themselves as somewhat familiar or un-
familiar with data quality control and the AMPS.
When these responses are stratified according to field
versus management and research positions, it reveals that
the perceived lack of familiarity was more prevalent among
field personnel. Table A-6 shows the percentage of responses
to familiarity questions stratified according to position.
Whereas 54 percent of management and research personnel
considered themselves very familiar with NWS moderniza-
tion (68 percent for clear familiarity with modernization in
hydrology), only 29 percent of the field personnel perceived
that they were very familiar with either the overall modern-
ization or hydrologic modernization activities. This differ-
ence also applies to familiarity with RFC and WFO opera-
tions, and it is most striking in the case of the AMPS. Eighty
percent of field personnel considered themselves somewhat
familiar or unfamiliar with the AMPS (which includes the
Water Resources Forecasting System and extended stream-
flow prediction). In contrast, nearly half of personnel in
management or research positions at the Office of Hydrol-
ogy and regional headquarters reported that they were very
familiar with the AMPS. Familiarity also shows predictable
trends with respect to age and years of service; personnel
new to the program were less familiar with the moderniza-
tion program and its components.
51
half of the personnel responding were optimistic that NWS
services and products will be improved as a result of the
modernization. More than half of the respondents perceived
that field personnel involvement had been inadequate. Mis-
sion and vision issues were also perceived by many as being
inadequately defined.
TABLE A-8 Rating of Issues Stratified by Position
(in percent)
Issue
Field
Personnel
Office of Hydrology
and Regional Personnel
Improved services
Mission and vision
Field personnel involvement
45 (24)a
18 (45)
11 (68)
68 (4)
34 (30)
16 (40)
aNumbers indicate percent of respondents who rated issues as "excel-
lent" and "very good." Numbers in parentheses are the percent of respon-
dents who rated issues as "fair" and "poor."
The stratification of these ratings by duties and positions
in Table A-8 (field personnel and forecasters versus manag-
ers and research scientists) reveals that the former group was
considerably less confident about the issues. Whereas a ma-
jority (68 percent) of Office of Hydrology and regional head-
quarters personnel believed that services will be improved,
only 44 percent of field personnel shared that confidence.
Mission and vision definitions show similar asymmetry. For
example, 67 percent of field personnel felt that field person-
nel involvement in the NWS modernization was lacking.
Only 40 percent of the managers and research scientists in
the Office of Hydrology and regional headquarters perceived
shortcomings in that area.
TABLE A-9 "Excited and Optimistic" Responses
(in percent)
Service Type
Percent Responding
OUTL00K River flood forecasting 78
Water management 56
Table A-7 shows how NWS personnel with hydrologic . .
Flash flood pred~chon 76
responsibilities rated some general issues. Approximately Hydrologic use of QPF 64
TABLE A-7 Rating of Issues (in percent)
Issue
Excellent or
Very Good
Fair or
Poor
Improved services
Mission and vision
Field personnel involvement
49
25
11
21
40
61
In general, the NWS personnel with hydrologic responsi-
bilities were excited and optimistic about the future potential
(within seven years) to meet and exceed the public needs for
NWS hydrologic services. Table A-9 shows the percentage
responses from NWS hydrology staff who rated themselves
as excited and optimistic in the various topic areas.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
nws personnel
