NOAA’s Climate Program Office awards $38.8M to advance scientific understanding, improve predictions, and enhance community and coastal resilience
Published: December 12, 2018
NOAA’s Climate Program Office (CPO), a part of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), has awarded $38.8 million for 78 new projects.* The projects, ranging from advancing the understanding and prediction of drought to building resilience in coastal communities, will be conducted by universities and other research institutions, alongside other federal agencies in close collaboration with NOAA.
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Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division (OOMD)
To create new information products describing our changing oceans and environment, the Climate Monitoring Program within the Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division (OOMD) funded eleven new projects totaling $3 million in two areas of dataset development.
OOMD's wide range of observing platforms all contribute to the global ocean observing system used internationally. Credit: NOAA
The OOMD-funded projects aim to create global and regional ocean-focused indicators or products to advance the monitoring and understanding of large-scale features and variability of the ocean, and contribute to better understanding of the important two-way relationship between the world’s oceans and our changing climate. These projects will develop and test indicators that provide a clear and concise way of communicating to the public and decision makers the status and trends of impactful physical changes in the atmosphere, ocean, and Arctic. This award supports the work of 31 people, including scientists, staff, postdocs and grad students.
Read the Program Announcement.
Climate Variability & Predictability (CVP)
In an effort to improve extended-range and seasonal forecasts for the Tropics and the United States, the Climate Variability & Predictability (CVP) program funded 14 new projects for $7.4M focused on the observation and understanding of intraseasonal oscillations in the Maritime Continent Region.
The CVP program competitively funded 14 new 3-year projects totaling $4.8 million in grants and $2.6 million in other awards (for a total of $7.4 million) to support 30 researchers, postdocs, and students at 16 institutions. These projects will help advance understanding of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and its local and global impacts on extended-range and seasonal forecasts. This work is in collaboration with the Office of Naval Research, and is part of the U.S. contribution to the Years of Maritime Continent (YMC), an international effort co-led by the Indonesian Meteorology Service (BMKG) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).
Read the Program Announcement.
Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle, and Climate
In support of activities that enhance our quality of life and provide a sound scientific basis for decision making, the Atmospheric, Chemistry, Carbon Cycle, and Climate (AC4) program funded 10 new projects for $5 million that address wildfire emissions and their chemical transformation in the atmosphere, and one project addressing emissions that influence urban air quality.
The AC4 program funded 10 new projects consisting of 14 individual grants totaling $5 million to support the Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX). FIREX investigates emissions and chemical transformation in the atmosphere resulting from wildfires burning in the Western United States. In total, AC4 is supporting 20 FIREX-related projects. Additionally, AC4 funded one new $1.5 million multi-institutional project focused on the synthesis of urban carbon research efforts. The project features a series of workshops to bring city stakeholders from around the country together with scientists to improve carbon monitoring and information sharing.
Read the Program Announcement.
Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP)
To help improve the Nation’s understanding, monitoring, and prediction of drought and to enhance our capacity to predict seasonal coastal high water levels and changing living marine resources, the Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) program selected 20 new projects via two competitions for a total funding of $10.8 million over the duration of the projects.
In partnership with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), MAPP selected 12 new three-year projects involving $4.2 million in grants and $1.8 million in other awards (for a total of $6 million) to address gaps in the understanding, monitoring, and prediction of drought and improve our Nation’s ability to prepare for impacts. These awards support the work of 45 people, including scientists, staff, postdocs and grad students.
Read the MAPP/NIDIS Announcement.
In partnership with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology, MAPP selected eight new three-year projects involving $3.9 million in grants and $900,000 in other awards (for a total of $4.8 million) to enhance our Nation’s capacity to produce seasonal predictions of coastal high water levels and living marine resources. These awards support the work of 30 people, including scientists, staff, postdocs and grad students.
Read the MAPP/NMFS Announcement.
Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI)
To help build the climate resilience of vulnerable ecosystems and communities across the United States, the Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI) division held two competitions in FY17 and funded seven new awards totaling $8.5 million.
The Coastal and Ocean Climate Applications (COCA) program competitively selected five new two-year projects totalling $1.2 million to support 36 people over 2 years. These five projects will conduct interdisciplinary research that helps identify climate risks and vulnerabilities for coastal communities and ecosystems as well as support the development of approaches to address both climatic and non-climatic stressors in order to build and inform greater resilience.
Read the COCA Announcement
The Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments (RISA) program competitively awarded $7.3 million over five years, supporting 56 people in two research institutions in Arizona/New Mexico and California/Nevada, to improve the expertise and ability of decision makers to prepare and plan for hazards and extreme events. The interagency National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) co-funds drought components of these awards.
Read the RISA Announcement
The new projects are designed to improve our ability to describe our changing environment; to advance understanding, modeling, and prediction of the Earth system; and to foster effective decision making. Some anticipated outcomes include improved early warning of drought, enhanced prediction of coastal high water levels, a better understanding of emissions from wildfires, and region-driven resilience building with stakeholders and communities.
The funds will be distributed over the life of the projects. All awards were selected in an open, competitive process. With these new awards, CPO expands the breadth and scope of NOAA’s climate research, products, and services, and offers opportunities for NOAA to collaborate with outside experts and other stakeholders.
“As the frequency, intensity, and types of extreme events change, and their impacts on individuals, communities, and businesses become more pronounced, decision makers are increasingly demanding timely and actionable information on how changes in climate may influence future extremes,” said Wayne Higgins, Director of the Climate Program Office. “There is compelling evidence that the nature of extreme events is altered by climate variations and change. With these grants we’re helping to improve understanding of these relationships and to put this information into the hands of those who need it. These activities will help build resilience in both inland and coastal communities and keep our citizens, communities, and businesses safe in the face of a changing climate.”
CPO manages competitive research programs, which fund climate science and observations, modeling improvements, assessments, decision-support research, transition of research into operational services, and capacity-building activities in four complementary areas: observations and monitoring; process understanding and analysis; modeling, predictions, and projections; and societal interactions. While each program area has its own focus, together they demonstrate NOAA’s commitment to advancing integrated climate research and enhancing society’s ability to plan and respond to climate variability and climate change over different timescales.
*Note: Future year funding is conditional on appropriation of funds. Also note that the numbers of people funded by each award include those funded in whole and in part.