Bringing Training to Forecasters Using VISITview

Anthony Mostek
National Weather Service

What is VISIT and the VISITview teletraining program? The teletraining approach used by the National Weather Service (NWS) and developed by the Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) program is presented. Teletraining is one component of the blended distance learning program utilized by the NWS to provide cost-effective training to the operational weather forecasters located in offices across all of the U.S. The NWS and NESDIS collaborated to establish and fund the VISIT program. VISIT is comprised of staff from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), and the NWS training centers. The VISIT and the Integrated Sensor Training programs bring together diverse training activities that have traditionally focused on individual sensors such as radar, satellite, and other observing systems. Since the start of the VISIT and IST teletraining program in April 1999, over 5500 training certificates have been issued to NWS and other operational forecasters. Information on the VISIT program is available at: http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/visit/visithome.asp.

To support the evolving training needs of the operational weather forecaster, the VISIT program develops instructional components that utilize various training approaches. To get instructors connected directly with the forecasters in the field, an interactive teletraining tool called VISITview was developed by the VISIT team. VISITview is a platform-independent distance learning and collaboration software program. It allows multiple users located in different offices to view the same series of images, and provides a large number of features, including annotation, color enhancements, zooming, animations, multi-panel displays, etc.

In addition, VISITview teletraining is being used for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Virtual Laboratory (VL) for Training in Satellite Meteorology. The primary goal of the VL is to promote effective use of satellite meteorology in forecast offices throughout the WMO member countries. The implementation plan for the VL calls for the following items to be addressed: 1) the resource library: its role, how it is structured, how training materials are "peer reviewed"; and 2) the VISITview teletraining program: how it works, numbers of forecasters trained in USA, and how it fits into the Virtual Laboratory construct. The presentation will provide an update on the number offices and students participating in teletraining, and include some examples from teletraining sessions that use the VISITview program.

BIO - Anthony Mostek Since 1995, Anthony Mostek has been the Satellite Training leader for the National Weather Service. He leads the Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) program. He is stationed at the offices of the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) in Boulder, CO. Prior to 1995, he worked at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, MD.

Conference Center - Demo Wednesday - 4:00 - 4:20 P.M.