2012 CBRFC Stakeholder Forum

Date: July 31, 2012 (start time: 8:30am)

Location: Salt Lake City, UT (location: CBRFC, 2242 W North Temple, SLC UT)

Theme: Observing Systems for River Forecasting

Goals:

(1) Two way discussion on CBRFC products and services

(2) Critical discussion on Colorado and Great Basins observing system use for forecasting and analysis including strengths and weaknesses

(3) Discussion on the evolution of CBRFC water supply forecasts slated for WY 2013

Registration:

Registration is free. To register, please contact Valerie Offutt at valerie.offutt@noaa.gov or 801.524.5130. You may also contact Kevin Werner at kevin.werner@noaa.gov with questions or comments.

Background:

CBRFC’s annual stakeholder forum is important for determining forecast and development priorities. It is designed to be interactive so that participants can gain a deeper understanding of CBRFC’s forecast process and its development activities while also providing a forum for stakeholders to share their experiences and priorities with CBRFC staff and management. Reports from past forums have helped to determine CBRFC projects as well as other activities in the NWS and NOAA. These reports as well as presentations from these meetings are available online.

This year’s forum will focus on the observing system. Good data is foundational for good forecasts. Higher quality and higher density observing systems are an important component of improving forecast skill. This year’s forum will discuss the use of observed data in CBRFC forecasting operations including streamgauge, precipitation, temperature, snow, and remote sensing data. We will also consider past efforts to identify observing system weaknesses. This will lead to a discussion on opportunities for expanding the observing system as well as improving the current system.

Agenda:

8:30 - Welcome and Introductions (Kevin Werner) [ppt | pdf]

8:50 - Evolution of CBRFC Water Supply Forecast Program (CBRFC) [ppt | pdf]

9:25 – Open Discussion: Water Supply Forecast Issues, Concerns, Goals?

10:00 – Break

10:15 – Observing System Overview and relationship to forecast skill (Kevin): Importance of networks and specific gauges; importance to skill; [pptx |pdf]

Key existing observing systems: How do these systems operate? What challenges and opportunities are there in the future? How do they address measurement error?

10:30 – NWS Observing Program: COOP, Radar, ASOS, and more (Larry Dunn, NWS Salt Lake City Weather Office) [ppt | pdf]

10:50 – NRCS SNOTELs and Snow Courses (Randy Julander, NRCS Utah State Office) [pptx | pdf]

11:10 – USGS Streamgauging (Pat Lambert, USGS Utah Water Science Center) [ppt | pdf]

11:30 – Lunch

-box lunches available for purchase

-CBRFC Operations Tours (John Lhotak)

12:30pm - Use of data at CBRFC: What networks does CBRFC use? How and where do we get this data? How is data actually integrated into the streamflow forecast process and the calibration process?

· Stream Gauges (Ashley Nielson) – Unique issues: Rating curves [pptx | pdf]

· Reservoirs, Diversions (Brenda Alcorn) – Unique issues: Data access, future schedules [pptx |pdf]

· Precipitation and Temperature (Greg Smith) [pptx | pdf]

· Use of Snow Observations at CBRFC (Stacie Bender) – Current Operational Datasets and Methods, New Datasets [pptx | pdf]

· Summary (Craig Peterson) [pptx | pdf]

2:30pm – Break

2:45pm - Synthesis of past analyses of Colorado and Great Basin observing systems (Kevin and Tim Bardsley) [pptx | pdf]

3:00pm - Discussion on improvement to observing system – What are the most important gaps in the current Colorado Basin observing system? Can we work together to more effectively manage and enhance the system in the future? If so, how?

3:30pm - General Discussion and Wrap Up

4pm - Conclude