Construal of Situational Risk and Outcomes – Exploring the Use of Weather Radar Displays with Residents of the Tampa Bay Region


A radar display is a tool that depicts meteorological data over space and time, therefore, an individual must think spatially and temporally in addition to drawing on their own meteorological knowledge and past weather experiences. We aimed to understand how the construal of situational risks and outcomes influences the perceived usefulness of a radar display and to explore how radar users interpret distance, time, and meteorological attributes using hypothetical scenarios in the Tampa Bay area (Florida). Ultimately, we wanted to understand how and why individuals use weather radar and to discover what makes it a useful tool. To do this, Construal Level Theory and geospatial thinking guided the mixed methods used in this study to investigate four research objectives. Our findings show that radar is used most often by our participants to anticipate what will happen in the near future in their area. Participants described in their own words what they were viewing while using a radar display and reported what hazards they expected at the study location. Many participants associated the occurrence of lightning or strong winds with ‘red’ and ‘orange’ reflectivity values on a radar display. Participants provided valuable insight about what was and wasn’t found useful about certain radar displays. We also found that most participants overestimated the amount of time they would have before precipitation would begin at their location. Overall, weather radar was found to be a very useful tool, however, judging spatial and temporal proximity became difficult when storm motion/direction was not easily identifiable.