Articles | Volume 6, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-6-111-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-6-111-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Sep 2023
Research article |
| 06 Sep 2023
| 06 Sep 2023
Understanding representations of uncertainty, an eye-tracking study – Part 2: The effect of expertise
Louis Williams
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading,
Whiteknights, P.O. Box 242, Reading, RG6 6BA, UK
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Earley Gate,
University of Reading, Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 238, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK
Kelsey J. Mulder
Department of Meteorology, Earley Gate, University of Reading,
Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 243, Reading, RG6 6BB, UK
Liberty Specialty Markets, 20 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3AW, UK
Andrew Charlton-Perez
Department of Meteorology, Earley Gate, University of Reading,
Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 243, Reading, RG6 6BB, UK
Matthew Lickiss
Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, School of Arts,
English and Communication Design, No. 2 Earley Gate, University of Reading,
Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 239, Reading, RG6 6AU, UK
Alison Black
Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, School of Arts,
English and Communication Design, No. 2 Earley Gate, University of Reading,
Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 239, Reading, RG6 6AU, UK
Rachel McCloy
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Earley Gate,
University of Reading, Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 238, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK
Eugene McSorley
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Earley Gate,
University of Reading, Whiteknights Road, P.O. Box 238, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK
Joe Young
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 115, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States
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Kelsey J. Mulder, Louis Williams, Matthew Lickiss, Alison Black, Andrew Charlton-Perez, Rachel McCloy, and Eugene McSorley
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It is vital that uncertainty in environmental forecasting is graphically presented to enable people to use and interpret it correctly. Using novel eye-tracking methods, we show that where people look and the decisions they make are both strongly influenced by construction of forecast representations common in presentations of environmental data. This suggests that forecasters should construct their presentations carefully so that they help people to extract important information more easily.
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It is vital that uncertainty in environmental forecasting is graphically presented to enable people to use and interpret it correctly. Using novel eye-tracking methods, we show that where people look and the decisions they make are both strongly influenced by construction of forecast representations common in presentations of environmental data. This suggests that forecasters should construct their presentations carefully so that they help people to extract important information more easily.
Zachary D. Lawrence, Marta Abalos, Blanca Ayarzagüena, David Barriopedro, Amy H. Butler, Natalia Calvo, Alvaro de la Cámara, Andrew Charlton-Perez, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, Etienne Dunn-Sigouin, Javier García-Serrano, Chaim I. Garfinkel, Neil P. Hindley, Liwei Jia, Martin Jucker, Alexey Y. Karpechko, Hera Kim, Andrea L. Lang, Simon H. Lee, Pu Lin, Marisol Osman, Froila M. Palmeiro, Judith Perlwitz, Inna Polichtchouk, Jadwiga H. Richter, Chen Schwartz, Seok-Woo Son, Irene Erner, Masakazu Taguchi, Nicholas L. Tyrrell, Corwin J. Wright, and Rachel W.-Y. Wu
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Peter Hitchcock, Amy Butler, Andrew Charlton-Perez, Chaim I. Garfinkel, Tim Stockdale, James Anstey, Dann Mitchell, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, Tongwen Wu, Yixiong Lu, Daniele Mastrangelo, Piero Malguzzi, Hai Lin, Ryan Muncaster, Bill Merryfield, Michael Sigmond, Baoqiang Xiang, Liwei Jia, Yu-Kyung Hyun, Jiyoung Oh, Damien Specq, Isla R. Simpson, Jadwiga H. Richter, Cory Barton, Jeff Knight, Eun-Pa Lim, and Harry Hendon
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Adam A. Scaife, Mark P. Baldwin, Amy H. Butler, Andrew J. Charlton-Perez, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, Chaim I. Garfinkel, Steven C. Hardiman, Peter Haynes, Alexey Yu Karpechko, Eun-Pa Lim, Shunsuke Noguchi, Judith Perlwitz, Lorenzo Polvani, Jadwiga H. Richter, John Scinocca, Michael Sigmond, Theodore G. Shepherd, Seok-Woo Son, and David W. J. Thompson
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Great progress has been made in computer modelling and simulation of the whole climate system, including the stratosphere. Since the late 20th century we also gained a much clearer understanding of how the stratosphere interacts with the lower atmosphere. The latest generation of numerical prediction systems now explicitly represents the stratosphere and its interaction with surface climate, and here we review its role in long-range predictions and projections from weeks to decades ahead.
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Energy systems are becoming more exposed to weather as more renewable generation is built. This means access to high-quality weather forecasts is becoming more important. This paper showcases past forecasts of electricity demand and wind power and solar power generation across 28 European countries. The timescale of interest is from 5 d out to 1 month ahead. This paper highlights the recent improvements in forecast skill and hopes to promote collaboration in the energy–meteorology community.
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A network of Rayleigh lidars have been used to infer the upper-stratosphere temperature bias in ECMWF ERA-5 and ERA-Interim reanalyses during 1990–2017. Results show that ERA-Interim exhibits a cold bias of −3 to −4 K between 10 and 1 hPa. Comparisons with ERA-5 found a smaller bias of 1 K which varies between cold and warm between 10 and 3 hPa, indicating a good thermal representation of the atmosphere to 3 hPa. These biases must be accounted for in stratospheric studies using these reanalyses.
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Preprint withdrawn
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A network of Rayleigh lidars have been used to infer the middle atmosphere temperature bias in ECMWF ERA-5 and ERA-interim reanalyses during 1990–2017. Results show that ERA-interim exhibits a cold bias of −3 to −4 K between 10 and 1 hPa. Comparisons with ERA-5 found a smaller bias of 1 K which varies between cold and warm between 10 and 3 hPa, indicating a good thermal representation of the atmosphere to 3 hPa. These biases must be accounted for in stratospheric studies using these reanalyses.
Related subject area
Subject: Geoscience engagement | Keyword: Public communication of science
Designing and evaluating a public engagement activity about sea level rise
Rocks Really Rock: electronic field trips via Web Google Earth can generate positive impacts in attitudes toward Earth sciences in middle- and high-school students
A spectrum of geoscience communication: from dissemination to participation
Understanding representations of uncertainty, an eye-tracking study – Part 1: The effect of anchoring
GC Insights: Nature stripes for raising engagement with biodiversity loss
Exploring TikTok as a promising platform for geoscience communication
How to get your message across: designing an impactful knowledge transfer plan in a European project
Magnetic to the Core – communicating palaeomagnetism with hands-on activities
Communicating uncertainties in spatial predictions of grain micronutrient concentration
The Met Office Weather Game: investigating how different methods for presenting probabilistic weather forecasts influence decision-making
The takeover of science communication: how science lost its leading role in the public discourse on carbon capture and storage research in daily newspapers in Germany
Building bridges between experts and the public: a comparison of two-way communication formats for flooding and air pollution risk
Nieske Vergunst, Tugce Varol, and Erik van Sebille
Geosci. Commun., 8, 67–80, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-8-67-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-8-67-2025, 2025
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We developed and evaluated a board game about sea level rise to engage young adults. We found that the game positively influenced participants' perceptions of their impact on sea level rise, regardless of their prior familiarity with science. This study suggests that interactive and relatable activities can effectively engage audiences on climate issues, highlighting the potential for similar approaches in public science communication.
Carolina Ortiz-Guerrero and Jamie Loizzo
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Sam Illingworth
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It is vital that uncertainty in environmental forecasting is graphically presented to enable people to use and interpret it correctly. Using novel eye-tracking methods, we show that where people look and the decisions they make are both strongly influenced by construction of forecast representations common in presentations of environmental data. This suggests that forecasters should construct their presentations carefully so that they help people to extract important information more easily.
Miles Richardson
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Emily E. Zawacki, Wendy Bohon, Scott Johnson, and Donna J. Charlevoix
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Sara Pasqualetto, Luisa Cristini, and Thomas Jung
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Annique van der Boon, Andrew J. Biggin, Greig A. Paterson, and Janine L. Kavanagh
Geosci. Commun., 5, 55–66, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-55-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-55-2022, 2022
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Christopher Chagumaira, Joseph G. Chimungu, Dawd Gashu, Patson C. Nalivata, Martin R. Broadley, Alice E. Milne, and R. Murray Lark
Geosci. Commun., 4, 245–265, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-245-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-245-2021, 2021
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Elisabeth M. Stephens, David J. Spiegelhalter, Ken Mylne, and Mark Harrison
Geosci. Commun., 2, 101–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-101-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-101-2019, 2019
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The UK Met Office ran an online game to highlight the best methods of communicating uncertainty in their online forecasts and to widen engagement in probabilistic weather forecasting. The game used a randomized design to test different methods of presenting uncertainty and to enable participants to experience being
luckyor
unluckywhen the most likely scenario did not occur. Over 8000 people played the game; we found players made better decisions when provided with forecast uncertainty.
Simon Schneider
Geosci. Commun., 2, 69–82, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-69-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-69-2019, 2019
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CCS media coverage in Germany was dominated by other stakeholders than science itself. If science will remain a proactive element of science communication, new approaches for future science PR have be deduced. Among these is a more differentiated understanding of target audiences and regional concerns. Furthermore, science communication has to gain a better understanding of sociocultural contexts to become more effective and successful.
Maria Loroño-Leturiondo, Paul O'Hare, Simon J. Cook, Stephen R. Hoon, and Sam Illingworth
Geosci. Commun., 2, 39–53, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-39-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2-39-2019, 2019
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Short summary
When constructing graphical environmental forecasts involving uncertainty, it is important to consider the background and expertise of end-users. Using novel eye-tracking methods, we show that where people look and the decisions they make are both strongly influenced by prior expertise and the graphical construction of forecast representations common in presentations of environmental data. We suggest that forecasters should construct their presentations carefully, bearing these factors in mind.
When constructing graphical environmental forecasts involving uncertainty, it is important to...
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