The Spotter Network (SN) is a system that utilizes

storm spotter Storm spotting is a form of weather spotting in which observers watch for the approach of severe weather, monitor its development and progression, and actively relay their findings to local authorities. History Storm spotting developed in the ...

and chaser reports of location and severe weather in a centralized framework for use by coordinators such as emergency managers, Skywarn and related spotter organizations, and the National Weather Service. It uses

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

to provide accurate and automated position data of storm spotters and chasers for coordination and reporting, which in turn provides ground truth to public servants engaged in the protection of life and property. The network is a combination of locally installed software for position and status reporting and web-based processing, mapping, and reporting. The original Spotter Network was developed by

Tyler Allison Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

. The current president of the organization is

John Wetter John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

. It became operational in April 2006 and quickly grew to over 100 spotters. Several National Weather Service (NWS) employees and other officials soon took an interest in the capabilities it brings to them to integrate ground truth provided by spotters into their operational responsibilities. Subsequent versions of the network expanded the coordinator and reporting capabilities, and NWS eSpotter integration was completed in early September 2006. Spotters must pass an online test of storm structure and basic meteorology in order to use the system. All reports are also reviewed for quality control purposes. Contact information is provided by users and can be controlled to reach the all users (the general public) or selectively to reach emergency managers and NWS officials. SN features

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

capabilities for use with external websites and apps. Several papers have been written on the use of the Spotter Network in meteorological research and operations such as: * Emerging Technologies in the Field to Improve Information in Support of Operations and Research * The Digital Revolution of Storm Spotting Modernizations of Training, Tracking, and Reporting * Enriching the Modern Day Storm Spotter Through Technology & Education Enhancements The SN is officially a Minnesota non-profit corporation, and is recognized as a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

by the IRS and is run as an organization of like-minded individuals taking input from the various communities that it serves and making the output available to any and all who are interested in severe weather. The SN has a

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and an advisory committee made up professional meteorologists, storm spotters, storm chasers, emergency response personnel, and NWS officials. On February 26th, 2017 storm chasers paid respects to 'Twister' star Bill Paxton by arranging their position indicators to form the initials BP.

References

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External links

SpotterNetwork website

Twitter account

Facebook page

NWS Skywarn homepage
Emergency communication Disaster preparedness in the United States National Weather Service Meteorological data and networks Amateur radio emergency communications organizations

See also

References

External links