VII.  RiverPro Form

RiverPro Form (Flood Category)

1   Location (Floodcat.Lid)                      Alphanumeric 8
     NWS location identifier.

2   Major  (Floodcat.Major)                      Numeric
     Categorical river stage level at which major flooding will occur.  A value should be entered for all
     official river forecast points.  This value is somewhat subjective.  It is intended to be the stage at
     which major damage occurs or which the threat to life and property is severe.  Many evacuations
     may be required during stages at or above the major stage.  The flood category values are used
     extensively by the WHFS river product formatter.

3   Moderate  (Floodcat.Moderate)                Numeric
     Categorical river stage level at which moderate flooding will occur.  A value should be entered for
     all official river forecast points.  This value is somewhat subjective.  Moderate flooding usually
     involves some damage potential, some threats to life and property, and possibly require some
     evacuations.  The flood category values are used extensively by the WHFS river product formatter. 
     

4   Minor (Floodcat.Minor)                       Numeric
     Categorical river stage level at which minor flooding will occur.  Generally, the minor stage is
     defined to be equivalent to flood stage.  Minor flooding is generally not a significant problem, with
     the potential for only minimal damage.  The flood categories are used in the WHFS applications.



RiverPro Form (Impact Statements)

     Note: The impact statement information allows scrolling through the multiple entries for the current
     location.

5   Stage  (Impact.Impstage)                     Numeric   
     This is the stage in feet for which an impact statement is defined.  The stage can be given to the
     nearest whole foot, or its precision can be given to the tenths of a foot.

     This stage is an absolute value and does not directly imply a stage range.  In order to uniquely
     specify the impact associated with a given stage, it is recommended to reference the damage that
     may occur for a stage up to and including the specified stage.  The WHFS product formatter
     application selects which impact stage to use based on a reference stage defined as the observed
     stage and/or the maximum forecast stage.  Different methods are used for selecting the impact stage
     with regard to the reference stage, such as using the impact stage closest to the reference stage, or
     the highest impact stage within the given numeric window around the reference stage (e.g. within 2
     feet). 

     The impact statement information is used by the WHFS applications, especially by the river product
     formatter to generate impact phrases for locations in flood.  The formatter assesses the hydrologic
     conditions at a location and determines which impact statement to use and then inserts the impact
     statement text into the generated product.  The information associated with the stage are given in
     the fields that follow.

6   Tendency (Impact.Rf)                         Alphanumeric 1      
     This field specifies whether the impact statement is for a rising stage, a falling stage, or both.  Its
     possible values are either R, F, or B, respectively.  This field can be used to differentiate wording
     to describe the impact of the flooding, depending upon whether the river is rising or falling. 
     Statements for rising rivers tend to be more alarming and detailed; when the river is falling, the
     statements can be less descriptive.  Often, the value is defined as both (B) or is left blank, which
     implies a value of B.  This field will be used to determine if the associated impact statement is
     applicable to the current hydrologic.  

7   Begin  (Impact.Datestart)                    Alphanumeric 5      
     Defines the start of a seasonal date range, month and day, for which a flood statement may apply. 
     This field, along with the End Date field, provides a method of defining flood statements specific to
     a time of year.  For example, a high hazard impact statement may be required for a recreation area
     during the high activity months of summer, when a large volume of people are using the area. 
     However, during the winter months the recreation area may be closed to the public, significantly
     lowering the potential hazard.  This field should be entered in month/day format, as follows:
     "05/01".  For impact statements that have year-round applicability, a value of "01/01" should be
     entered.  

     This field is employed by the river product formatter to determine the appropriate impact statement. 
     Impact statements with a date range that does not include the current date are not recommended for
     inclusion.

8   End  (Impact.Dateend)                        Alphanumeric 5 
     Defines the end of a seasonal date range, month and day, for which a flood statement may apply. 
     This field, along with the Begin Date field, provides a method of defining flood statements specific
     to a time of year.  This field should be entered in month/day format, as follows: "10/31".  For
     impact statements that have year-round applicability, a value of "12/31" should be entered.  

9   Impact  (Impact.Impstmt1)                    Alphanumeric 255    
     The impact statement consists of two (2) fields of type CHARACTER 255 that are concatenated
     together to form a single statement indicating the expected impact of a flood event associated with a
     given impact stage.

     Impact statements are inserted directly into products generated by the river product formatter so it
     is essential that the wording of the statements be suitable for public release.  Also, the wording
     must be given in the proper context.  The formatter uses templates that control the context of the
     impact statements.  Typically, the templates provide a lead-in for the statement.  For example, 
     the template phrase may be:  "At  Feet, ", where the generated phrase would be: "At 18.0 Feet, 
     the following roadways are affected..."; in this case, the impact statement text is the "the 
     following roadways will are affected...".  Note how important the context is to the proper  
     sentence structure.

     The formatter allows mixed case to be used; it can convert lower case to all upper case, but not
     upper case to mixed.  It is recommended that text be entered in mixed case.

     As mentioned above, the formatter assigns specific semantics to impact statements by merging them
     with other data elements to form a composite paragraph or phrase. The following guidelines should
     be employed in the entry of impact statements:

       a) Do not reference the corresponding flood stage value, as this is defined by the associated
          impact stage.
       b) Do not reference the forecast point name, as this is defined by the associated location
          identifier.
       c) Do not reference the departure from flood stage for the current impact stage; if needed,
          this information is available through other aspects of the product formatter.
       d) Do not reference historical crest stages, as this information is incorporated through
          inclusion of historical crest comparisons.
       e) State the impact in the active tense, avoiding phrases such as "MAIN STREET WAS
          FLOODED", instead using a phrase such as "MAIN STREET FLOODS".
       f) Exercise discretion in the use of demarcations such as "..." or " - ".

10  Con't  (Impact.Impstmt2)                     Alphanumeric 255    
     This field is simply a continuation of the first portion of the statement.  If entering data in the
     continuation field, then enter the data such that when this field's contents are appended to the first
     portion, that the resulting text is meaningful.  The first statement need not end with a end-of-sentence 
     period; a mid-sentence break between the first and second statements is not only acceptable, it may be 
     required in order to ensure readability of the resulting full impact statement. 


RiverPro Form (UGC Zones)

     Note: The UGC counties information allows scrolling through the multiple entries for the current
     location.

11  State  (Ugz.st)                              Alphanumeric 2
     This field gives the FIPS code for the state for which the associated zone is given.  The state field
     is used together with the county code described below.

12  Zone (Ugz.Zone)                              Alphanumeric 3
     This field contains the three-digit zone identifier code for the zones that are associated with a
     flooding event at the river location.  The zones are then used by the WHFS river product formatter
     when it assembles the Universal Generic Code (UGC) and inserts in the header of the generated
     product.

     The zone field is given together with the State field - field 14 described below.  Multiple pairs of
     zone-state entries are permitted and, in fact, are common as zone boundaries sometimes follow
     river courses and sometimes upstream/downstream zones are impacted by flooding at a given
     location.

     A given location usually has either zones and counties associated with it, but not both, depending
     upon how the UGC information is presented in the product header for the given NWS office.


RiverPro Form (UGC Counties)

     Note: The UGC counties information allows scrolling through the multiple entries for the current
     location.

13  State  (Ugc.St)                              Alphanumeric 2
     This field gives the FIPS code for the state which the associated county FIPS code is given.  The
     state field is used together with the county code described below.

14  Fips  (Ugc.Fips)                             Alphanumeric 4 
     This field contains the three-digit FIPS code for the counties that are associated with a flooding
     event at the river location.  The county codes are then used by the WHFS river product formatter
     when it assembles the Universal Generic Code (UGC) and inserts it in the header of the generated
     product.  Presently, the FIPS code for this purposes is given as a three-digit number.  In the future,
     counties will be partitioned for watch/warning purposes and the fourth character provided for in this
     format will be used to indicate which portion of the county is impacted by flooding at this location.

     The FIPS county field is given together with the State field described above.  Multiple pairs of
     FIPS-state entries are permitted.  For river locations, it is common that multiple entries be given, as
     county boundaries tend to follow river courses, so a given forecast point may have at least two (i.e.
     left and right bank) counties associated with it.  Also, upstream and/or downstream counties may be
     included.

     A given location usually has either zones and counties associated with it, but not both, depending
     upon how the UGC information is presented in the product header for the given NWS office.