Identification

Title

Examining the roles of visualizations in people's understanding of uncertain storm surge forecasts, interpretation of risk, and decision-making

Abstract

Maps and other forms of geovisualizations play a central yet complex role in communicating weather hazard risks and threats to the public. Through designing storm surge risk communication prototypes and testing these visualizations in focus groups with residents of coastal communities in Georgia and South Carolina, this study investigates how different aspects of geospatial visualization influence individuals' understanding and relatability of storm surge information and how different elements of geospatial risk visualization influence people's intent to take protective actions. The focus group discussions revealed common themes and unique perspectives in the interpretation of hurricane storm surge flooding forecasts and illustrated the complexity of communicating risk and uncertainty to diverse populations. This study found a sequential pattern of visual information processing, beginning with understanding the content and its perceived accuracy and uncertainty, followed by personalizing the information and deciding on protective action. Showing storm surge forecast maps at multiple spatial scales was valuable, combined with realistic visualizations in the form of images or 3D animations of flooded buildings. Maps with recognizable places and labels helped study participants locate themselves and assess storm surge risks, although residents of urban, barrier island, and rural coastal communities interpreted the information in their local and personal context. Additional research is needed to understand how people interact with different types of storm surge forecast information and how to improve visual risk communication in ways that enhance people's understanding and responses to storm surge risk in the context of their local environment and prior experiences.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7kp86cr

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2024-06-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact