Linking Meteorology, Technology, and the Human Dimensions of Warning: The Evolution of the CASA Research Program

The CASA (Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere) Engineering Research Center was established in 2003 with a 10-year grant from the National Science Foundation. Through interdisciplinary research in sensing, prediction, computation, and human decision-making, CASA demonstrated, through its radar testbed located in central Oklahoma, that a new generation of networked X-band radars could enhance warning system outcomes. After the initial NSF funding ended, the radars were relocated to North Texas to create the CASA DFW Living Lab. The lab serves both as a real-time severe weather warning system and a platform for advancing interdisciplinary research. Over the past decade, the lab has thrived through an innovative multisector partnership involving the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Colorado State University, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the National Weather Service, emergency managers, and industry. CASA's research is distinguished by: 1) Early and ongoing engagement with stakeholders to identify user needs, through research conducted in live contexts such as testbeds and living labs; and 2) The development of technologies that integrate user and societal needs into the warning system's operations. This talk will trace the evolution of CASA’s human-centered approach, highlighting both the challenges and successes from its early work with emergency managers and NWS forecasters to current research on personalized, context-aware warnings.