New Enhancements to the West Gulf River Forecast Center Maps/Front Page

 

About this Tool

The National Weather Service (NWS) produces a variety of data sets in support of its Hydrologic Services mission. This Google Map-based tool contains many of the data sets necessary to make water resources, flood, and emergency management decisions. The primary goal of this tool is to bring together a variety of spatial data products on the same background map for analysis and decision making. This gives stakeholders the flexibility to create customized maps and the ability to scale maps beyond a single RFC boundary.

 

Advantages of this tool include:

  • Consolidation of RFC spatial data products into one easy accessible tool available from a web interface
  • Provision of a collaboration and decision making tool for stakeholders
  • Ability to navigate and view products easily across RFC boundaries

 

To access the National Weather Service - Service Description Document about this tool, please click here.

 

Using this Tool

To display the legend for any given data overlay, click the legend icon to the right of the specific layer title. Once displayed, legends can be moved anywhere on the display. Each data overlay has a slider bar that controls transparency. Once an overlay is displayed, use the slider bar below the specific layer title to adjust the transparency. This tool is designed to work with all internet browsers. If using Internet Explorer, IE8.0 or later is recommended.

 

How to Access Flow Information from the Hydrology Decision Support Tool

River Information Tab:
In the River Information Tab, you can access flow information by selecting the Hydrograph (Stage and Flow) Mouse Hover Options.  This will display a hydrograph that displays stage (on the left axis) and flow (on the right access) for the point that you are hovering over.  

Map:
If you would like more detailed information, you can also click on the point and go directly to the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) webpage for that site.  The AHPS webpage for that location will display in a separate tab within your web browser.  The AHPS page will have an option under the hydrograph called Tabular Data.  By clicking on this Tabular Data link,  another tab will open which will show the most current stage and flow readings available for the location.

The Hydrology Decision Support Development Team is working towards a solution to incorporate the legacy method of displaying stage and flow information within the mouse hover option.  In the meantime, hopefully the above methods are adequate to access flow information.  If these methods are not desirable, you can still access the legacy map which includes the capability of displaying stage and flow from the mouse-over display. The legacy map can be found at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/wgrfc/wgrfclegacy.php

 

 

Downloading the Data Overlays

Each of the overlays that are displayable in this tool is also available for download. NWS products displayed are available for download at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcexp/gis.php

 

More Information About the Data Overlays

Current River Status and Forecast: http://water.weather.gov/ahps

Observed Precipitation: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/RFC_Precip/

National Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF): http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/qpf2.shtml

National Drought Monitor: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

National Flood Outlook Potential: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/nationalfloodoutlook

Storm Prediction Center Convective Outlooks: http://spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook

National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Information: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

FEMA Regions: http://www.fema.gov/about/regions/index.shtm

FEMA Hurricane Evacuation Routes: http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/nhp/index.shtm

USGS Percent Impervious Areas: http://nationalmap.gov/landcover.html

USACE District Information: http://www.mvm.usace.army.mil/USACEDistrictsList.asp

 

Providing Feedback on this Tool

If you would like to participate in a survey on this prototype, please click here.

Alternatively, you can provide feedback on this tool by sending email to: sr-fwr.dsstool@noaa.gov

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