Citation

Miran SM, Ling C, James JJ, Gerard A, Rothfusz L. Appl. Ergon. 2017; 65: 277-285.

Affiliation

NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, OK, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apergo.2017.06.016

PMID

28802448

Abstract

Effective design for presenting severe weather information is important to reduce devastating consequences of severe weather. The Probabilistic Hazard Information (PHI) system for severe weather is being developed by NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) to communicate probabilistic hazardous weather information. This study investigates the effects of four PHI graphical designs for tornado threat, namely, "four-color"," red-scale", "grayscale" and "contour", on users' perception, interpretation, and reaction to threat information. PHI is presented on either a map background or a radar background. Analysis showed that the accuracy was significantly higher and response time faster when PHI was displayed on map background as compared to radar background due to better contrast. When displayed on a radar background, "grayscale" design resulted in a higher accuracy of responses. Possibly due to familiarity, participants reported four-color design as their favorite design, which also resulted in the fastest recognition of probability levels on both backgrounds. Our study shows the importance of using intuitive color-coding and sufficient contrast in conveying probabilistic threat information via graphical design. We also found that users follows a rational perceiving-judging-feeling-and acting approach in processing probabilistic hazard information for tornado.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Color coding; Contrast; Decision-making; Natural hazard; Probabilistic information