AOP5 （ 2010 ）：Web-based Typhoon Forum

Shanghai Typhoon Institute / CMA 8 September 2010, Macao, China

•Introduction

•Present Status

•Progress in 2010

•Present Problems

•Plan for 2011

Outline

1. Introduction

1.1 Goal of Typhoon Forum

In order to provide a real time communication platform for forecaster and researcher of the Asia and Pacific Typhoon committee, improve the forecast ability of TC and reduce the damage of TC.

We create the Typhoon Forum to discuss the movement, intensity, and rainfall distribution of TC which has great impact to the Asia and Pacific Area.

To share some data of TC, especially the radar or GPS data, as well as some

relative technical issues.

1.2 Road map

2009-3: Initialize the affair of the Typhoon Forum, including the Server building, website design and the mail system.

2009-7 ： Collect the nominee of members, complete the system testing, and register the account. Forum homepage is http://www.typhoon.gov.cn/en/bbs/

2009-7: Send the first mail with subject ‘Welcome to Typhoon BBS!’ to all users.

2009-9: Introduce the Typhoon Forum to all the participants at the Workshop “Building Sustainability and Resilience in High Risk Areas of the Typhoon Committee: Assessment and Action” (Cebu, Philippines, 14-18 September 2009). Formally become a part of Annual Operating Plan(AOP5).

2009-12: Discuss at the small meeting in Macau.

2010-1: Questionnaires has been send to all members in order to collect more advices to make our forum better.

1.3 Typhoon Forum in Chinese Version

Participant ： The Public Theme:

29356 Post:

1001432 Member:

37993

Contents:1. Electronic Periodical(论坛月刊 )

2. Course of Beginners (新手专栏 )

3. Tropical Cyclone Section(台风特区 )

4. Meteorology Section(气象专区 )

5.Sharing our Life (综合专题 )

Regularly organize the members to join the forum party once a year.Provide the opportunity to visit or internship in STI.

2. Present Status

2.1 Configuration of Typhoon Forum

TC Realtime Information

and Forecast

History Case

Forecast Verification

2.2 Registered users

Up to 2010 Sept. 2, There are 57 members. coming from 11 countries over the Asia and the Pacific Area.

Table 1. Registered users of Typhoon Forum

Country /Organization Number

Malaysia 4

Philippines 4

Korea 4

Japan 4

Macao, China 5

Vietnam 4

China 21

Hong Kong, China 2

Thailand 2

Singapore 2

WMO 3

USA 1

Administrators 1

2.3 Contents status

Session Topics Posts Views

TC realtime information and forecast 26 45 380

History case 4 6 44

Forecast verification 1 1 16

Statistic Value

Number of posts: 52

Number of topics: 31

Number of users: 57

Number of attachments:

39

The radar image from Shanghai.From the image can see a clear eye of Kompasu.

How about the Multi-TC in the current situation of TC 1006,1007 and the TD near Taiwan island?The forecast information from STI Super-ensemble system indicate

Typhoon Kampasu (1007) ----from our members

Satellite image

Information of AWS

Radar image

     

5612 ‘WANDA’

JWTC: 160KTCMA: 90M/S,902HPAJMA: 915HPA

0313 ‘DUANJUAN’

.

0908 ‘ MORAKOT’

3. Progress in 20103.1 Questionnaires and feedbacks.

2010-01-05: Send questionnaires to members by email.

2010-01-15: Receive the feedbacks from members.

(Thanks Mr. James Weyman (USA) and Mr. LEE Kwok-lun (Hong Kong,China) for kindly response. )Especially, Mr. Koji Kuroiwa (WMO) and Mr. Olavo Rasquinho (TCS) give more suggestions and comments in their feedback email.

Summarized suggestions

1, The form of typhoon forum——continue to use the web_based interface, email is sent automatically in case of new topic and reply, providing the correlative link for the topic.

2, To expand more information, such as the forecast opinion, typhoon impacts and different kinds of data.

3, To expand the number of registered users, not only the nominated person of Typhoon Committee, but also the meteorologist from the member of TCS. (Notice: Identity authentication is necessary.)

Expand the registered user. 2010-03: Open to the professional staff from STI. The professional staff from STI could logon the Typhoon Forum to update th

e information of the current, It the duty to Express his/her opinions of the forecast or raise the question of interest, discussion.

2010-07: The Typhoon Forum is open to the public, then more applications be accepted.

For the public, If you submit an application for registration and approved, it can be registered as members. Absorb the public to our discussion, the content could be expanded to what they really interested, which could promote us to learn more of the user feedback and needs.

Form a team of moderators on related topics(June,2010).

Recommend the forum to TC experts(August,2010).

3.2 Update the forum

4. Present Problems

User ‘s visit rate increase to 65%.

Last visit record of most members is still in last year.

Only a few members often post on the forum.

Too little exchange of the Forecast information.

The problem of sharing the data should be feed back in time.

The membership for the public should be strictly verified.

5. Plan for 2011

Most of work in the key point such as information exchange. Two ways to achieve, one way is members who volunteer to share information with others, another way the forum moderator who collects information for data from all members.

In history session, For the TC which has great impacts, We plan to provide some synoptic document, forecast information and linking of some published paper. This should be convenient for forecasters to refer.

Q and A?