NWS GIS Survey

NOAA National Weather Service’s GIS Data & Product Survey

[Screen 1]

Thank you for participating in the NOAA National Weather Service’s GIS Data & Product Survey! (It will take about 5-10 minutes to complete the 20 survey questions). The National Weather Service is working to increase the availability and usability of GIS products and services provided to the public. The results of this voluntary survey will help the NOAA’s National Weather Service improve its products and services, and your input is valuable.

Per NWS policy, the public will have an opportunity to provide input on any proposed new or enhanced GIS products and services before a decision on operational implementation. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subjected to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. Any information collected about you is subject to the NWS Privacy Policy found here: http://www.weather.gov/privacy

If you have questions that have not been addressed on this survey, please submit them here: nws.gis@noaa.gov

[Screen 2]

[Brief survey navigation instructions will be inserted here. Page footer will include a link to the survey email address for questions. Page header will include survey title and OMB approval number. All screens will display navigation buttons and a progress bar.]

[Screen 3]

Priority Issues and Needs

1. Please indicate the topics most important to your work. Please select up to four:

o Emergency Management

o Natural Resource Management

o Infrastructure

o Land Transportation

o Marine Transportation

o Air Transportation

o Utilities

o Recreation/Tourism

o Health

o Energy

o Agriculture/Rangeland

o Homeland Security

o Risk Management

o Fishing/Aquaculture

o Others: ______________________________

2. Please select the top five environmental threats for your organization’s activities for which you rely on observations, outlooks, forecasts, and/or warnings:

o Heavy Rain/River Flooding/Flash Flooding

o Coastal Storm Surge/Flooding

o Tsunamis

o Low Water Levels in Navigational Waters

o High Waves

o Droughts

o Thunderstorms

o Hail

o Tornadoes

o Hurricanes

o Waterspouts

o High Winds

o Extreme Air Temperatures

o Frost

o Unhealthy Air Quality

o Unhealthy Water Quality (e.g. HAB)

o Hazardous Beach Conditions (e.g. Rip Currents)

o Snow/Freezing Rain

o Freezing Spray at Sea

o Reduced Visibility

o Low Cloud Ceiling

o Critical Wildfire Conditions

o Short Term Climate Variability (e.g. El Niño/La Niña)

o Long Term Climate Change (e.g. warmer temperatures)

o Space Weather Events (e.g. geomagnetic storms)

o Other___________________________

3. On a scale from 1 to 5, please rate how familiar you are with NWS GIS-ready data that are currently available on the NWS web pages?

o 1 (not familiar at all)

o 2 (a little familiar)

o 3 (somewhat familiar)

o 4 (familiar)

o 5 (very familiar)

4. Which NWS GIS data products/services do you currently use the most often (in order of usage from most to least)?

1._____________

2._____________

3._____________

4._____________

5._____________

5. How frequently do you use GIS products/services currently available on NWS GIS web pages?

o Daily

o Weekly

o Monthly

o Seasonally

o Occasionally

o Never used before

6. On a scale from 1 to 5, please rate how easy it is to find and access NWS GIS data?

o 1 (very difficult)

o 2 (difficult)

o 3 (somewhat difficult)

o 4 (easy)

o 5 (very easy)

7. If you selected “1” or “2” on question 6, do you have any suggestions for improving availability and accessibility of NWS GIS data and services? Optional

____________________________________ (open text box)

8. On a scale from 1 to 5, please rate how the available NWS GIS-ready data meet your needs within your identified priority issues for your organization?

o 1 (doesn’t meet my needs)

o 2 (meets my needs a little)

o 3 (somewhat meets my needs)

o 4 (meets my needs)

o 5 (meets my needs very much)

9. If you selected “1” or “2” on question 8, please explain what will help meet your needs. Optional

___________________________________ (open text box)

10. On a scale from 1 to 5, please rate how reliable the available NWS GIS-ready data are to meet your needs within your identified priority issues for your organization?

o 1 (not at all reliable)

o 2 (a little reliable)

o 3 (somewhat reliable)

o 4 (reliable)

o 5 (very reliable)

11. If you selected “1” or “2”on question 10, please explain what will help meet your reliability needs. Optional

___________________________________ (open text box)

12. Please identify up to five of your organization’s most needed NWS data that are currently NOT available in GIS-ready formats:

1._____________

2._____________

3._____________

4._____________

5._____________

13. Please rank the usefulness of the following GIS-ready formats:

	Not at all useful	A little useful	Somewhat useful	Useful	Very useful
WMS	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
WFS	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
WCS	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
ArcGIS REST	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Shapefile	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
GeoTIFF	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
KML/KMZ	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

Other formats (please specify) _________

14. If known, what spatial reference do you prefer to use the most?

o Geographic/Unprojected, NAD83

o Geographic/Unprojected, WGS84

o Web Mercator, uses WGS84

o I use map defaults or let my application project

o Other ____________ (open text box)

15. What platform do you prefer to use the most to access/view NWS GIS products and services? (Select all that apply)

o Desktop or Laptop

o Tablet

o Mobile phone

o Other_____________

16. Any additional comments/suggestions concerning NWS GIS products and services?

____________________________________

Demographics

17. Please indicate which of the following best represents your current professional affiliation [check only one].

o Local government

o State/Territorial government

o Tribal government

o Federal government

o Regional governance organization

o NGO/nonprofit/volunteer group

o Private sector

o Academia

o Other ________________________________

o Prefer not to answer

18. In which of the following regions do you work [check all that apply]?

o National

o Northwest

o Southwest

o Gulf Coast

o Great Lakes

o South Atlantic

o Southeast

o New England

o Pacific Island

o Alaska

o Caribbean

o International

o Prefer not to answer

19. Please indicate which of the following best characterizes your primary job duties [check all that apply].

o Conservation

o Education and outreach

o Emergency management

o Natural Resource Management

o Human dimensions (sociology, anthropology, economics)

o Geospatial technology (GIS, remote sensing, or related field)

o Natural resource site management

o Permitting and regulatory enforcement

o Planning

o Policy

o Program administration/management

o Research/Academia

o Other ____________________________________

o Prefer not to answer

Contact Information [Optional]

20. Submission of your personal information is voluntary. If you choose to provide this information, it will be used only to verify comments/suggestions if necessary.

Affiliation:

Contact information:

You have completed the survey!

Thank you for your feedback!

Paperwork Reduction Act Information:  In accordance with Executive Order 12862, the National Performance Review, and good management practices, NOAA offices seek to determine whether their customers are satisfied with the services and/or products they are receiving and whether they have suggestions as to how the services/products may be improved or made more useful. The information will be used to improve NOAA's products and services. Responses to this survey are completely voluntary. No confidentiality can be provided for responses, but you need not supply your name or address. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10 minutes per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Jenna Meyers, 1325 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.

OMB Control No. 0690-0030. Expiration Date: 06/30/2017.

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