Geoscience Reference
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Fig. 8. In this system, there is a trend to go back to basic imagery products such as shear and
aggregated shear to aid in the interpretation and utility of the data.
6.5 CARDS - Canada
The CARDS (Canadian Radar Decision Support) system was developed as part of the radar
upgrade (Joe et al, 2002; Lapczak et al, 1999) and built on the previous concepts. In Canada,
a single severe weather forecaster is responsible for the provision of warnings for the area
coverage of about ten radars. This is in contrast to other countries, where it is approximately
one radar for one forecaster. While this may seem like a work overload situation, there are
some interesting side benefits. It has been estimated that in a one radar for one forecaster
situation, a forecaster will likely face only one significant event in his career. In the
Canadian scenario, a severe weather forecaster will therefore experience ten big events. It
can be argued that these experienced forecasters will be better at decision making and will
therefore make better warnings (Doswell, 2004). Forecasting is a complex process and it
remains to be seen whether this is a true. Given these constraints, the weather service of
Canada is arguably the most reliant on automated guidance products. They are critical in
aiding the forecaster to diagnose those cells which need detailed interrogation to upgrade
from a severe weather warning to a more specific warning.
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