TACLS software is intended to help NWS issue flash flood warnings earlier
Scientists from UCSD, NASA and the US National Weather Service are developing TACLS software, which uses satellite data and machine learning to target earlier detection of flash flood risk. It is being piloted in California, with expansion to all NWS offices planned.
A team of scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California San Diego), the US National Weather Service (NWS) and NASA is developing software called TACLS (Transient Artifact and Continuous Learning System). The system combines satellite data and machine learning to identify areas where rainfall risks turning into dangerous flash floods, earlier than current NWS methods allow. The project is led by Yehuda Bock, a geodesist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
According to Yehuda Bock, existing NWS tools have limitations: satellites provide more detailed data over oceans than over land, and real-time rainfall monitoring does not provide enough lead time because flooding is already underway by the time rainfall is detected. Jayme Laber, senior service hydrologist at the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Oxnard, adds that the network of rainfall and streamflow sensors does not cover the entire area evenly, especially in desert and less populated areas.
TACLS is currently being piloted only in California, specifically at the NWS San Diego Weather Forecast Office, where Ivory Small serves as the science and operations officer. According to the company/institution NWS, the system is planned to become gradually available to all 122 NWS forecast offices in the USA and its territories. Small says that TACLS could make it possible to issue warnings earlier and save lives, while without it there is a risk that warnings will arrive too late.
The source article documents the context using the example of flooding in Lanesville, Indiana, on 9 June, where resident Laura Lin describes how the NWS evacuation warning arrived only after the area had been flooded. Further details on how TACLS works technically and the rollout schedule are not provided in the available portion of the article. You can find details in the source article.
Why it matters
Faster detection of flood risk could extend the time between a warning being issued and the arrival of a flood, which is crucial for saving lives and property in flash floods (onset within 6 hours). For residents of at-risk areas, this potentially means more time to evacuate; for emergency management and local governments, it means better information to support the timely deployment of flood protection measures if the pilot deployment in California expands to other regions.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
People living in flood-prone areas could receive warnings earlier than they have so far, when, according to the case described in Indiana, warnings often arrived only after homes had been flooded.
For a business
For local governments and emergency management, earlier and more accurate warnings could change the timing of evacuation measures, flood barriers and rescue team deployments if the system expands beyond the pilot area in California.
Risks and complianceCheck the original
Event sources
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