Performance and Awareness Branch Chief: Robert McLeod

The Awareness Branch (PAB) provides guidance and creates materials to apprize customers and partners of NWS capabilities, educates customers and partners on how best to use available services, ensures NWS dissemination systems get information to those who need it when they need it, advises customers and partners on safety and preparedness actions, provides leadership and establishes policy for the NWS awareness, preparedness, external warning coordination, technical user education, dissemination and communication, and customer notification programs

In support of these activities, the branch is the NWS point of contact for all Federal Response Plan issues including coordination of national drills with FEMA, creation of consistent awareness and preparedness materials with other partnering Federal Agencies and the American Red Cross, conductivity of seasonal awareness campaigns to heighten public awareness and test media and community warning systems, and conductivity of partner and customer forums with all NWS user groups to identify needed service improvements. The branch briefs senior NWS, NOAA, DOC, and White House officials plus members of Congress and the media on NWS services during extreme events. PAB provides leadership and policy for the delivery of NWS services through traditional and evolving dissemination systems including NOAA Weather Radio, the Emergency Manager's Weather Information Network, NOAA Port, the Family of Services, the Weather Wire, pagers, the Local Data Access and Dissemination System, and state and local redistribution networks.

Performance Branch (PPB)
Chief: Douglas Young

The Performance Branch (PPB) provides the foundation for all NWS service improvement activities by measuring performance and assessing customer satisfaction with service delivery. The branch provides leadership and establishes policy for forecast verification, service assessment, and customer satisfaction programs.

The verification program measures the accuracy and timeliness of NWS services including warnings and forecasts for the public, aviation, marine, fire weather, and emergency management communities. These data provide baselines for the establishment of performance targets as mandated in the Government Performance and Results Act. The NWS evaluation program uses teams established at each NWS service delivery point to communicate successes, identify deficiencies, and assess improvement opportunities. The branch uses these findings to suggest national changes to Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services (OS) program managers. Following extreme events, the branch deploys teams to evaluate operations and service performance and make recommendations for increasing effectiveness and efficiency where possible. Many recommendations affect NWS partners in the delivery of services including the media, local officials, emergency managers, and private hydro-meteorological services. The branch also works with contract organizations to create customer satisfaction indices and assists OS program managers in translating results into service improvements.

The PPB establishes policy and maintains the database for archiving NWS storm-related data and products used by the public, weather sensitive economic sectors, and academia for both research and legal purposes. Information contained in the NWS natural hazards database is the only official repository for natural hazard statistics and is used by agencies such as FEMA , the EPA , USGS , and organizations such as the Institute for Business and Home Safety to suggest mitigation strategies.