NOAA/National Weather Service's Chief Learning Office United States Department of Commerce
Commerce Learning Center

NWS Impact-Based Decision Support Services PDS

 Damage View

Weather-Ready Nation is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather. To achieve this goal, it is imperative that the NWS expand its capacity to provide superior impact-based decision support services (IDSS) in all phases of the disaster life cycle. This Professional Development Series (PDS) focuses on identifying professional competencies needed to perform IDSS, along with an inventory of instructional components available to build those skill sets.

PCU 6 : Advanced ICS and Deployment Tools


Recognize risk and choose the right tools to deliver weather and water information while deployed.

Total Duration: 2.52 to 22.02 hours (varies by course selection)

To find each course copy and paste the title into the search box on the CLC. You can also access each PCU curriculum from the IDSS PDS PCU 4-7 CLC Home Page.

Instructional Components:

Section 1: Introduction and Deployment Tools (1.02 hours)
  • Welcome to Professional Competency Unit 6 (0.02 hours)
  • EX: NWS IDSS Tools (1 hour)

Section 2: Intermediate and Advanced ICS Tools (0.5 to 21 hours)
Choose at least 1 of 4
  • FEMA ICS 300: Intermediate Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents (21 hours In-Residence)
  • AWIPS-2 Thin Client Training (0.5 hours)
  • HYSPLIT Applications for Emergency Decision Support, 2nd Edition (4 hours)
  • WebEOC Access and Training (TBD)