D2D Tools
Damage Path
The Damage Path Tool (DPT) is a D-2D tool that is used to provide first responders with near real-time damage polygons containing comments. After loading the Damage Path Tool from the D-2D Tools menu, the user creates a polygon using a polygon editing tool similar to WarnGen or using a special tornado track tool. With the tornado track tool, the user modifies a D-2D baseline along the track of a tornado vortex signature, and the tool creates a tornado track with a width that is a function of the radar tornado location uncertainty that increases with range from the radar. With uncertainties of ~ 0.5 mile at 40 nmi and ~ 1 mile at 80 nmi, the tornado path width varies from 1 mile at 40 nmi to 2 miles at 80nmi to account for radar range-dependent uncertainty in radar vortex location and actual tornado damage location at the surface.
After the user creates a polygon, a right mouse click on the polygon is used to launch the Set Properties dialog which is used to specify information about the damage. The DPT supports the following damage types:
Preliminary Tornado
Significant Wind Damage
Hail
Flood
Extreme Ice or Snow
Other Man Made/Natural Hazard
After creating the polygon and inputting damage metadata, the user can right click on the damage path to export to a GeoJSON file that can be posted to the web or emailed to local first responders. The DPT also has a right click option to send the damage path to the Damage Assessment Toolkit server where first FEMA and first responders can get access to the data.
There is no directive on the DPT use, and a significant amount of preparation needs to happen before an office would consider issuing polygons. The situations where an office will choose to use it need to be defined and coordinated with local stakeholders to ensure they are prepared to use this type of information. While the DPT was originally designed for use for providing near real-time significant tornado damage paths in rare high-impact situations, it supports a wide variety of decision support situations. For more on the DPT, see the Damage Path Tool training in the CLC and the DPT VLab reference page.