Snow Spotter Program
- Details
- Hits: 12970
Most amateur radio operators are familiar with the SKYWARN program, and reporting of severe weather conditions. We usually associate the SKYWARN program with reporting heavy rain, hail, and even tornadoes. But, the National Weather Service also runs an associated Snow Spotter program, gathering data to assist them in their mission to protect life and property, as well as developing better storm models.
Snow spotting, like conventional storm spotting, has specific conditions and information requirements. The NWS wants reports of:
- Change in precipitation type (rain to snow, snow to freezing rain, etc)
- Snow Accumulation of 1 inch or more
- Heavy Snowfall Rate (example: snowing at 1 inch per hour)
- Significant Blowing or Drifting snow
- If the snow, ice, or blowing snow is having a major impact on travel
- If what is occurring is not what is in the forecast
- Anything significant that you think we should know about
SKYWARN / Storm Spotting
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- Hits: 14299
Amateur radio and the National Weather Service have a unique and exciting relationship, where amateur radio operators with an interest in meteorology can combine those two interests and provide valuable public service.
The National Weather Service (NWS) sponsors a weather spotting program open to all interested citizens, but with special consideration for amateur radio operators. The NWS SKYWARN program is a multi-faceted program designed to train public safety personnel, amateur radio operators, and citizens at large in the basics of storm spotting and reporting.
Where things get really interesting for amateur radio operators is the NWS maintains amateur radio stations at their centers, usually working in conjunction with repeater owners who link repeaters together forming a wide-area linked repeater network for amateur radio operators to report real-time directly to the NWS!
In Georgia, the NWS Peachtree City office is the center of the action for amateur radio operators operate equipment that, in conjunction with the linked repeater network, can maintain contact with amateur radio operators / storm spotters all across the state.
What is ARES?
- Details
- Hits: 17339
ARES is an acronym for "Amateur Radio Emergency Service", an arm of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL), composed of volunteer Amateur Radio operators interested in serving their communities, state, or nation in the event of an emergency. Although ARES is the creation of the ARRL, it is not required that you be an ARRL member to participate.
ARRL is recognized nationally as "THE" amateur radio communications organization. ARES has agreements with the Federal, State, and many local governments as well as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to provide assistance upon request.
While there are other ways to be involved in emergency communications through direct affiliation with NGOs like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or RACES (a government sponsored program), ARES has the broadest range of potential opportunities for service in the event of an emergency.
EMCOMM and ARES
- Details
- Hits: 15552
As we’ve previously discussed, Amateur Radio Emergency Communications has changed from the days where a very informal response among a specialized group of technical individuals could provide support in an emergency in an improvised way.
The changes in how we are expected to respond are largely the result of the evolution of emergency response organizations within the government and without.As previously mentioned, many organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and even the government itself, have created their own communications teams comprised of Amateur Radio operators who meet their requirements.
Organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army are about providing direct aid during and following an emergency. Communications is one small component of that overall mission. So, within the Red Cross, for instance, the communications team members are Red Cross volunteers who happen to be Amateur Radio operators, not the other way around.
ARES Training & FEMA
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- Hits: 14894
Most entities ARES will support utilize a standardized command structure call the "Incident Command System". The Incident Command System, usually referred to as ICS, is designed to be scalable for emergencies ranging from a car wreck to a hurricane. The purpose of the standardized ICS is so that the various government agencies and non-government organizations, often referred to NGOs, all understand the chain of command and the various positions within the system.
FEMA offers a series of free on-line courses so volunteers, police, firemen, and local government officials can easily learn, demonstrate proficiency, and get certified as being proficient in a variety of area.
ARES, like many NGOs (including the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and others), has committed to requiring their volunteers to have various levels of FEMA course certifications before being deployed. The requirements are usually fairly minimal for most ARES volunteers, requiring only the introductory certifications to participate in support positions.
Why Emergency Communications?
- Details
- Hits: 14650
Two distinct events combined to turn my mind to emergency preparedness. September 11th, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina. One mass-murder by warriors of Islam and the other mass destruction caused by nature and made worse by incompetence in local government. In either case, they are examples of why we should be better prepared for the unexpected so we can ride it an emergency while our neighbors and local, state, & national governments work to restore normalcy to our lives.
September 11, 2001 returned my mind to thoughts of emergency preparedness and my early emergency response training. But, as is often the case, I lapsed into a "maybe I'll do something next week" line of thought. Well, at least I was thinking about it.
Emergency Communications Organizations & Systems
- Details
- Hits: 18156
We’ve discussed EMCOMM organizations in the past, so I’ll just remind everyone that while ARES is rapidly becoming the most prevalent EMCOMM organization there are others include RACES, SATERN, MARS, SHARES and REACT.
· RACES: Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. Normally setup and administered by local or state Emergency Management Agencies.
· SATERN: Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network. Amateur Radio Operators who are also volunteers with the Salvation Army operate this network.
· MARS: Military Affiliate Radio Service. This is a Department of Defense sponsored communications program managed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
EMCOMM After 2001
- Details
- Hits: 15928
Emergency response has changed drastically over the past several decades, especially since 2001, and the utilization of Amateur Radio operators has been affected by it. The days of showing up unannounced with your HT and “go kit” have pretty much gone the way of the vacuum tube.
The September 11th attack and Hurricane Katrina both acted as wakeup calls to a variety of emergency response agencies all the way from the courthouse to Washington, DC. Longstanding issues, like the inability for local public service agencies to communicate with each other (such as fire and sheriff) as well as inability for state and federal agencies to interoperate with each other and local entities was a major embarrassment during the September 11th and Katrina responses.
ARES, MOUs and Served Agencies
- Details
- Hits: 15027
ARES, at the national, state, and local level often enters into agreements with other communications organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and government at different levels. These agreements, usually called memoranda of understanding or an MOU for short, define the relationship between ARES at different levels and these entities.
The MOU provides a framework under which we provide mutual support, depending upon where the need is. Setting aside local MOUs, such as the one between Carroll County ARES and Tanner Medical, the state and national ARES organizations have MOUs that extend to the local ARES organizations as well. These organzations include the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Civil Air Patrol, Citizen Corps, Natonal Weather Service, and others.
In many cases these entities operate their own corps of Amateur Radio Operators that ARES volunteers would work with in the event the MOU is invoked and ARES support is requested. Many ARES members are also members of these alternative organizations, and while volunteerism is promoted in amateur radio, such dual-allegiance can cause problems in the even two different organizations call up their amateur radio operators at the same time.
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