Using the jointly-branded ANSI compliant standard as a form of R2O to improve post-storm assessments of damaging wind

This presentation is a discussion on a different type of Research to Operations (R2O). Since 2017, a group has jointly branded a standards committee between American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) and the AMS to develop a standard on estimating wind speeds for severe local storms. This presentation describes what a jointly branded standard means for members of the AMS.

A standard is a common R2O method for converting the latest science into a document used by practitioners within the ASCE; an example of one is the ASCE-7, better known as the building code standard. The AMS/ASCE Wind Speed Estimation standards (WSE) committee also has a mission to convert the latest methods in wind speed estimation in severe storms to create a document to be used by practitioners within multiple fields, ranging from meteorological, ecological, and forestry.

Foremost among the methods is the EF Scale where levels of damage among common objects is converted to a wind speed estimate after the event. Three other methods are being developed into a standard including three tree-fall pattern techniques, a forensics method, and applications of remote sensing to analyzing the level of damage and changes to land surface. The WSE is also converting the science of in-situ and radar-based methods of estimating wind speeds.

Currently the WSE consists of 90 members from the meteorological, engineering, and forest biology disciplines and has been working together for the past four years to develop the standard. The committee is now balloting the content within the standard and will soon have a draft ready for the next step –– the public comment period. This is one area where AMS members will be able to provide a valuable contribution to improving the standard.