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Toward Better Flood Risk Communication: Applying a Diagnostic Framework for Evaluating and Redesigning FIM Visualizations
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This resource does not have an owner who is an active HydroShare user. Contact CUAHSI (help@cuahsi.org) for information on this resource. |
| Type: | Resource | |
| Storage: | The size of this resource is 12.0 MB | |
| Created: | Jul 17, 2026 at 9:53 p.m. (UTC) | |
| Last updated: | Sep 08, 2026 at 8:02 p.m. (UTC) (Metadata update) | |
| Published date: | Sep 08, 2026 at 8:02 p.m. (UTC) | |
| DOI: | 10.4211/hs.48f3e77af2ea4af1bccb1a7296ade472 | |
| Citation: | See how to cite this resource | |
| Content types: | Single File Content CSV Content |
| Sharing Status: | Published |
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| Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 7 |
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Abstract
Flood Inundation Maps (FIMs) are increasingly used to communicate flood extent, depth, timing, and hazard conditions, but their value depends on whether the displayed information can be interpreted clearly and translated into practical understanding. The study evaluates selected FIM platforms as communication interfaces rather than only technical map products. Using the Diagnosing, Assessing, Redesigning, Testing, and Synthesizing (DARTS) framework, survey data were collected from participants in the 2026 Summer Institute. The platforms assessed included public facing FIMs, including the NOAA National Water Prediction Service (NWPS) Emulator and EarlyFlows, and credentialed platforms, including FloodID and HurrEvac. Participants evaluated each platform using 1-5 rating grids, short-answer questions, and screenshots. Qualitative responses were analyzed using NVivo thematic analysis, while rating-grid results were synthesized to compare platform performance. Across four widely used flood inundation mapping platforms, users consistently struggled to interpret flood information despite navigating the interfaces with relative ease, indicating that the principal limitation of current FIMs lies in risk communication rather than usability. Common challenges included technical language, unclear visual design, poor communication of uncertainty, and confusing legends and map layers. Coded responses also identified recurring needs for clearer main messages, plain-language explanations, improved layer and color interpretation, clearer forecast timing and limitation guidance, and stronger impact communication. These findings were translated into prototype-informed NWPS design targets, including recommendations for simpler default layer organization, guided interpretation support, and an Impact Lens concept to indicate potentially inundated roadways. The study applies an evidence-based framework for redesigning flood inundation maps to achieve effective risk communication by linking user perceptions to specific interface design recommendations.
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Content
README.md
Visualize the Rise: FIM Diagnostic Assessment and NWPS Emulator Design Translation
Resource overview
This HydroShare resource supports the Water Prediction Innovators Summer Institute 2026 report Toward Better Flood Risk Communication: Applying a Diagnostic Framework for Evaluating and Redesigning FIM Visualizations.
The resource contains the final report, final capstone presentation, aggregate and de-identified Likert-scale outputs, sanitized diagnostic instruments, reproducible figure-generation scripts, metadata, and a complete GitHub-ready repository package.
Files
Visualize_the_Rise_Final_Report.pdf— final report.Visualize_the_Rise_Final_Capstone_Presentation.pdf— final capstone presentation delivered during the Water Prediction Innovators Summer Institute 2026.processed_data_and_scripts.zip— aggregate data, metadata, Python scripts, and software environment files.diagnostic_instrument.zip— sanitized assessment instrument and question list; no credentials are included.github_repository_release_v1.0.0.zip— complete GitHub-ready repository snapshot.data_dictionary.csv— field-level descriptions.CITATION.cff— citation metadata.LICENSE_DATA.md— reuse and restriction information.
Important interpretation limits
The rating-grid results are exploratory diagnostic evidence rather than statistically representative platform rankings. Platform coverage was uneven. The package contains aggregate results only.
Materials intentionally excluded
Raw respondent assessments, direct identifiers, login credentials, restricted platform materials, the full NVivo project, and application secrets are excluded. The NWPS Emulator application source remains in its separate development repository.
Suggested use
Use the processed files and scripts to reproduce the rating-grid figures and inspect the diagnostic dimensions. Users should not interpret the scores as causal evidence or population-level usability estimates.
Funding acknowledgement
This research was supported by the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH) under award NA22NWS4320003 from the NOAA Cooperative Institute Program. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA.
Related Resources
| This resource is referenced by | https://github.com/NWC-CUAHSI-Summer-Institute/visualize-the-rise-fim-diagnostic |
Credits
Funding Agencies
This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
| Agency Name | Award Title | Award Number |
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| Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH) | Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology | NA22NWS4320003 |
How to Cite
This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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