Effective Communication of Storm Surge Risk

The goal of this portion of the storm surge mapping project was to test the graphics’ effectiveness as measured by efficiency and accuracy in an eye-tracking experiment and in an online survey. Risk perception was also analyzed with different audiences and different graphic styles. At least one consistent pattern was detected in both methods (eye tracking experiment and online survey) and across in multiple hurricane scenarios. The green to red scale led to improved accuracy values among participants in both methods. The differences, although consistent across different tests, were not statistically significant in most cases. Qualitative categories (i.e. low, med, high and extreme) led to greater accuracy than quantitative categories measured in feet (i.e. <3, 3-6, 6-9, and 12+) in the online survey. This pattern was not repeated across all conditions in the eye tracking experiment. In that method, the scale in feet led to greater accuracy in the greento-red scale but lower accuracy in the yellow-to-purple scale. Participants in the eye tracking experiment spent more time examining the maps when the legend was presented in feet rather than in text categories. The blue colored maps also led to increased examination times for all questions except one comparing two points to determine which was the most severe. The accuracy results from eye tracking were not significant for either color or legend type. 2012 NWS (National Weather Service) TPC (Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch) Submitted Public Domain 1931