The National Weather Service (NWS) is responsible for providing flood forecasts and warnings in the United States. The agency established the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services (AHPS) program in 1997 to advance technology for hydrologic services, specifically to provide accurate forecasts that support timely warnings for all users of hydrologic predictions. AHPS strives to provide information at the right time to facilitate adequate responses to mitigate damages to life, livelihoods, and property. AHPS is slated to be fully implemented nationwide in 2013. With seven years still remaining in its development and implementation timeline, a review of the program now is critical to providing NWS with information it needs to maximize the effectiveness of the AHPS program. This report assesses AHPS in respect to hydrologic science and technology research, river routing and mechanics, "systems" engineering aspects, and implementation. Overall, this report finds AHPS to be an ambitious program that promises to provide services and products that are timely and necessary. The report calls for AHPS to develop a detailed and comprehensive, multi-year implementation plan and for the program's goals and budget to be brought into closer alignment.

The National Weather Service (NWS) is responsible for providing flood forecasts and warnings in the United States. The agency established the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services (AHPS) program in 1997 to advance technology for hydrologic services, specifically to provide accurate forecasts that support timely warnings for all users of hydrologic predictions. AHPS strives to provide information at the right time to facilitate adequate responses to mitigate damages to life, livelihoods, and property. AHPS is slated to be fully implemented nationwide in 2013. With seven years still remaining in its development and implementation timeline, a review of the program now is critical to providing NWS with information it needs to maximize the effectiveness of the AHPS program. This report assesses AHPS in respect to hydrologic science and technology research, river routing and mechanics, "systems" engineering aspects, and implementation. Overall, this report finds AHPS to be an ambitious program that promises to provide services and products that are timely and necessary. The report calls for AHPS to develop a detailed and comprehensive, multi-year implementation plan and for the program's goals and budget to be brought into closer alignment.

In the field of natural hazards, communicating science with the public and stakeholders involves entering the challenging and complex world of hazard and risk communication, the ultimate purpose of which is to reduce the impact of impending hazards on people at risk. According to the Sendai Framework 2015-2030, it is important to “strengthen the utilization of media, including social media, traditional media, big data and mobile phone networks, to support national measures for successful disaster risk communication.” Sometimes risk communication has collateral and unexpected side effects that may lead to the adoption of inadequate behaviors. In some instances, this can even result in legal actions being taken against scientists and/or emergency managers. The role of the media should be to facilitate the accurate communication of hazard and risk information, but such communication is often hampered by the fact that journalists have different agendas and priorities than scientists, risk communicators, and emergency managers. This does not always support people in their decision making. Accurate communication of hazard and risk is especially important when decisions have to be made within contexts where uncertainty is very high. This is often the case with geohazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.

This study offered an independent peer review for a synthetic document being produced for the CCSP. It found the draft document to be in a fairly early stage of development and noted several issues needing attention in the revision. The draft was inconsistent across sections with respect to whether or not it accepted two assumptions: that more skillful forecasts necessarily have greater value, and that the most useful form of information is a projected future value of an outcome parameter with an uncertainty distribution. Available scientific evidence gives reason to question these assumptions, and the draft did not discuss the evidence. Among other issues needing attention, the review called for the revised draft to do more to substantiate its claims of the potential benefits of knowledge-action networks and to give more careful consideration to the appropriate balance of roles between governmental and private efforts.

The Klamath River basin, which spans parts of southern Oregon and northern California, has been the focus of a prominent conflict over competing uses for water. Management actions to protect threatened and endangered fish species in the basin have left less water available for irrigation in dry years and heightened tensions among farmers and other stakeholders including commercial fishermen, Native Americans, conservationists, hunters, anglers, and hydropower producers. This National Research Council book assesses two recent studies that evaluate various aspects of flows in the Klamath basin: (1) the Instream Flow Phase II study (IFS), conducted by Utah State University, and (2) the Natural Flow of the Upper Klamath Basin study (NFS), conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). The book concludes that both studies offer important new information but do not provide enough information for detailed management of flows in the Klamath River, and it offers many suggestions for improving the studies. The report recommends that a comprehensive analysis of the many individual studies of the Klamath river basin be conducted so that a big picture perspective of the entire basin and research and management needs can emerge.

Indus River Basin: Water Security and Sustainability provides a comprehensive treatment of water-related issues within the Indus River basin. Each chapter is written by an expert in the field, hence this book serves as a single, holistic source covering the whole region, not just a single country. Many of the challenges faced by this region are trans-boundary issues, especially within the context of climate change and water scarcity. Topics covered include extreme engineering and water resource management (one of the largest irrigation systems in dry to semi-desert conditions), social sciences (population dynamics linked to water resources) and political sciences. As such, this book is relevant and important to all researchers interested in these issues. - Includes detailed chapters provided by specialists in each different field as compiled by well experienced editors - Presents work from related fields across the Indus basin and makes them easily accessible on one single place - Shows the Indus River as a type case and shares issues relevant to other locations across the world

Flood Forecasting: A Global Perspective, Second Edition covers hydrologic forecasting systems on both a national and regional scale. This updated edition includes a breakdown by county contribution and solutions to common issues with a wide range of approaches to address the difficulties inherent in the development, implementation and operational success of national-scale flood forecasting systems. Special attention is given to recent advances in machine learning techniques for flood forecasting. Overall, the information will lead to improvements of existing systems and provide a valuable reference on the intricacies of forecast systems in different parts of the world. - Covers global and regional systems, thus allowing readers to understand the different forecasting systems and how they developed - Offers practical applications for groups trying to improve existing flood forecasting systems - Includes innovative solutions for those interested in developing new systems - Contains analytical and updated information on forecasting and monitoring systems

Written by more than 30 emergency physicians with first-hand experience handling medical care during disasters, this volume is the only single comprehensive reference on disaster medicine. It provides the information that every emergency department needs to prepare for and handle the challenges of natural and manmade disasters. The contributors present guidelines for assessing the affected population's health care needs, establishing priorities, allocating resources, and treating individuals. Coverage encompasses a wide range of natural, industrial, technologic, transportation-related, and conflict-related disasters, with examples from around the world. This edition has more illustrations and more information on weapons of mass destruction and explosions.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the National Weather Service (NWS) undertook a major program called the Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR). The MAR was officially completed in 2000. No comprehensive assessment of the execution of the MAR plan, or comparison of the promised benefits of the MAR to its actual impact, had ever been conducted. Therefore, Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an end-to-end assessment. That report, The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring: A Retrospective Assessment, concluded that the MAR was a success. Now, twelve years after the official completion of the MAR, the challenges faced by the NWS are no less important than those of the pre-MAR era. The three key challenges are: 1) Keeping Pace with accelerating scientific and technological advancement, 2) Meeting Expanding and Evolving User Needs in an increasingly information centric society, and 3) Partnering with an Increasingly Capable Enterprise that has grown considerably since the time of the MAR. Weather Services for the Nation presents three main recommendations for responding to these challenges. These recommendations will help the NWS address these challenges, making it more agile and effective. This will put it on a path to becoming second to none at integrating advances in science and technology into its operations and at meeting user needs, leading in some areas and keeping pace in others. It will have the highest quality core capabilities among national weather services. It will have a more agile organizational structure and workforce that allow it to directly or indirectly reach more end-users, save more lives, and help more businesses. And it will have leveraged these capabilities through the broader enterprise. This approach will make possible societal benefits beyond what the NWS budget alone allows.