Coastal Services Center

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CSP Project Areas

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CSP Regional Selection and Implementation Process

1) Region Selection

The Coastal Storms Program (CSP) undertakes a structured screening process to identify the needs and issues that qualifies an area to become the next CSP region.  This process is conducted on an as needed basis by the NOAA CSP team.  The leadership team is composed of representatives from 4 NOAA line offices (National Weather Service, National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research).

The selection criteria and ranking system is based on the following four conditions:

1. Storm diversity (event type, frequency and intensity);
2. Coastal geographic diversity;
3. Strong political support (Congressional, local/state, or Administration); and
4. potential for developing strong regional partnerships

2) Stakeholder Involvement and Needs Identification

After a region has been selected, the CSP team begins the process of tailoring products to local users’ needs by working with local decision-makers to identify gaps.  The adaptability of CSP to meet a wide range of needs is part of the Program’s strength and is a result of this unique process.  When CSP begins work in a new region, the CSP team meets with local and regional stakeholders and partners (e.g., federal agencies, state and local emergency managers, policy makers, and planners, universities, and private organizations) to determine what are the most pressing local needs for mitigating storm hazard impacts.  The information gathered from these meetings guides what tools and services are developed in the future.

3) Product Development

Once a suite of products is identified, CSP partners with assistance from federal, state, and local organizations begin development.  CSP makes a concerted effort to determine that all resources are made available to implement the product in the most efficient and cost effective way.  This activity can range from working with state and federal scientists to adapt existing tools and data for local needs to develop a completely new product.

4) Reengagement of Stakeholders and Quality Control

Upon the completion of a specific product, CSP staff reengages the stakeholders to assure the product meets the expectations outlined by the local participants in the initial meetings.  This step is essential to the success of the CSP process and usually occurs through iterative steps involving constructive conversations/collaborations. In many cases, partners are directly involved in the product development process.

5) Product Training and Wrap-Up

When the products are complete, ‘wrap-up’ meetings are held to train local users to understand product capabilities.  CSP also has a significant outreach component to ensure that local users are engaged throughout the product scoping, development, and delivery process. At the conclusion of a regional program, CSP provides workshops and other training activities to ensure that local users are able to effectively use CSP products in their work. To meet this need, CSP establishes an outreach coordinator in each region, hosted through the local Sea Grant office, which acts in this capacity throughout the life of the program.

6) Evaluation and Assessment

The evaluation and assessment phases were recently enhanced during the development of the Gulf of Mexico program.  Due to the need to track progress and the success of the CSP in a region, an evaluation and assessment component was added to the process.  Evaluations will now be undertaken each year, as well as at the end of the regional program to measure over all success and potential future improvements to CSP.