PFI:BIC: CityWarn -A Smart, Hyperlocal, Context-Aware Hazard Notification Service System.

该项目建议开发下一代预警系统，以改善人们对雷暴、龙卷风和洪水等危险天气的决策方式。在过去的二十年里，城市已经成为人口和经济活动的中心。目前，超过80%的美国人口集中在城市；此外，美国80%的国内生产总值是由大都市地区产生的。人口和经济活动的集中使城市更容易受到极端天气事件的影响。鉴于这些趋势，有效的危险天气预警系统至关重要。危险预警系统是一种服务系统，旨在最大限度地减少死亡、伤害、财产损失、基础设施破坏以及服务或商业中断。它们包括传感器、预报、网络和通信、公共安全人员和决策者、警报信息以及接收和响应警报的人员。CityWarn解决了灾害通报服务系统的三个重要问题：1)协调和共享。公共安全机构、私营部门公司和一般公众都有自己的危险警报需求，多年来，特定部门甚至特定危险的警报系统已经发展，可能无法以有效和有用的方式共享重要信息。2)数据爆炸。各种来源的数据呈爆炸式增长，从精细的气象观测和交通数据，到人类在社交媒体上报告天气。这对决策者来说是一个挑战，他们必须迅速理解所有这些信息；3)智能手机普及率。现在智能手机的普及，加上超本地、用户选择信息的趋势。预警系统有可能个性化天气预警，从而使预警反应更有效。CityWarn将通过下一代通信和网络平台提供用户定义的动态变化警报。该平台与一个尖端的雷达系统相连，该系统可以提供城市街道和社区的高分辨率天气信息。手机应用程序提供用户配置的天气信息。我们的综合研究将集中在计算与传感，行为科学，工程系统和测试平台。计算与传感项目将在通信和网络平台内开发新的可扩展性、安全性和功能进步，并集成高分辨率雷达产品和来自现场的用户生成观测。通过认知任务分析、可用性研究和现场实验，行为科学研究人员将了解现场工作人员（如公用事业工人、警察、消防员、雨水处理人员）如何在其任务和组织结构的背景下使用和共享天气信息。我们的工程系统工作将集中在传感信息源的聚合和共享、解决数据过载问题的警告过程自动化以及用户警报定制。通过开发供工业和公共部门参与者使用的共同平台，我们希望打破现有警报系统之间的孤岛，加强机构间协调，改善反应时间和质量。主要的测试平台将是达拉斯沃斯堡大都会区的一个生活实验室，在那里，天气数据将在实际的恶劣天气事件中传播给用户。主要合作伙伴：马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校（领导）：电气与计算机工程、计算机科学、资源经济学；科罗拉多州立大学：电气与计算机工程；Oncor电力输送公司（大型企业，达拉斯，德克萨斯州）；TruWeather Solutions（小型企业，雷斯顿，弗吉尼亚州）。其他更广泛的背景合作伙伴是沃斯堡市（政府，沃斯堡，德克萨斯州）；CommPower（小型企业，Camarillo， CA）；IBM（大型企业，阿蒙克，纽约）。该奖项部分由计算机和信息科学与工程理事会（CISE）、信息和智能系统司（IIS）提供资金支持。

This project proposes to develop next generation warning systems that will improve how people make decisions about hazardous weather, such as thunderstorms, tornados and floods. Over the past two decades, cities have become a locus of population and economic activity. Currently, over 80% of the US population is concentrated in cities; furthermore, 80% of the Gross Domestic Product in the United States is produced in metropolitan areas. The concentration of people and economic activity makes cities even more vulnerable to extreme weather events. Given these trends, effective hazardous weather warning systems are critical. Hazard warning systems are service systems that aim to minimize deaths, injuries, property loss, infrastructure destruction, and service or business disruption. They include the sensors, forecasts, networking and communications, public safety personnel and decision-makers, warning information, and those who receive and respond to the warnings. CityWarn addresses three important issues for hazard notification service systems: 1) Coordination and sharing. Public safety agencies, private sector firms and the general public, all have their own hazard warning needs, and over the years, sector-specific, and even hazard-specific warning systems have evolved that may not share important information in efficient and useful ways. 2) Data Explosion. There's an explosion of data from all sources, from fine scale meteorological observations and traffic data, to humans reporting weather on social media. This is challenging for decision-makers who must quickly make sense of all of this information; and 3) Smart phone penetration. There is now a proliferation of smart phones, plus a trend toward hyperlocal, user-selected information. Warning systems have the potential to personalize weather warnings in a way that can make warning response more effective. CityWarn will deliver user-defined, dynamically changing alerts through a next-generation communications and networking platform. The platform is linked to a cutting edge radar system that provides high-resolution weather information on an urban scale of streets and neighborhoods. A mobile app delivers user-configured, weather information. Our integrated research will focus on Computing & Sensing, Behavioral Sciences, Engineered Systems and Testbeds. The Computing & Sensing thrust will develop new scalability, security, and functional advances within the communication and networking platform, and integrate high-resolution radar products and user-generated observations from the field. Through cognitive task analysis, usability studies, and live experiments, behavioral science researchers will learn how fieldworkers, such as utility workers, police, firefighters, stormwater personnel, use and share weather information in the context of their tasks and organizational constructs. Our engineered systems work will focus on aggregation and sharing of sensed information sources, automation of warning processes to address data overload problems, and user alert customization. By developing a common platform for use by industry and public sector players, we hope to break down silos between existing warning systems and increase inter-agency coordination and improve response time and quality. The main test bed will be a living lab in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex where weather data will be disseminated to users during actual severe weather events. Primary partners: University of Massachusetts, Amherst (lead): Electrical & Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Resource Economics; Colorado State University: Electrical & Computer Engineering; Oncor Electric Delivery Company (Large Business, Dallas, Texas); TruWeather Solutions (Small Business, Reston, VA). Other broader context partners are the City of Fort Worth (Government, Fort Worth, Texas);CommPower (Small Business, Camarillo, CA); and IBM (Large Business, Armonk, New York).This award is partially supported by funds from the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS).