Climate Program Office (CPO), Earth System Science and Modeling Research in support of the Disaster | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What agency is offering this grant opportunity?

This discretionary funding opportunity is offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is administered through NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), Climate Program Office (CPO), Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM) Division.

2) What is the official funding opportunity number and CFDA listing?

The Funding Opportunity Number is NOAA OAR CPO 2023 2007562, and the CFDA listing is 11.431.

3) What is the main purpose of this funding opportunity?

The main purpose is to strengthen the science and modeling foundations needed to better understand climate variability and change and to translate that knowledge into practical improvements that help reduce risk and build resilience. In particular, the focus is on improving the United States' ability to predict, forecast, and mitigate precipitation- and flood-related hazards affecting public safety, health, economic stability, and national security.

4) What kinds of hazards and outcomes is NOAA trying to address?

The opportunity targets precipitation- and flood-related hazards. The intended outcomes include better prediction and forecasting capability and, ultimately, better mitigation and risk reduction for flood and heavy-precipitation impacts that can affect people, infrastructure, and broader societal and economic systems.

5) How is this opportunity connected to federal disaster-related funding?

The announcement supports two separate competitions in Fiscal Year 2023 that are tied to the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (DRSA) of 2022. That law explicitly calls for improvements to precipitation and flood prediction, forecasting, and mitigation capabilities.

6) How many competitions does this announcement support?

It supports two separate competitions in Fiscal Year 2023.

7) What NOAA strategy does this opportunity align with?

NOAA aligns this funding with its Precipitation Prediction Grand Challenge (PPGC) Strategy for 2020-2030, an agency-wide effort to substantially improve precipitation forecasts across multiple time horizons.

8) Does the focus only include short-term weather forecasting?

No. While improving precipitation forecasts includes shorter-term horizons, the PPGC emphasis also includes subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) prediction and seasonal-to-decadal (S2D) prediction, reflecting the need for credible information at multiple lead times.

9) What decision needs is NOAA trying to support with improved prediction?

The announcement highlights the importance of useful precipitation information for planning and decision-making needs such as emergency management, water resources, and infrastructure, where different lead times can support different types of actions.

10) What is a central technical theme of the opportunity?

A central theme is developing and applying a fully coupled Earth system prediction model. This means research that treats the atmosphere, ocean, land, ice, and other components as an interacting system rather than isolated parts.

11) What does "fully coupled Earth system prediction model" mean in practice?

In the context provided, it refers to modeling approaches that represent interactions among major Earth system components (for example, atmosphere-ocean-land-ice linkages) to improve the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of precipitation information.

12) What types of research does NOAA appear to be looking for?

Based on the framing, NOAA is looking for targeted research that advances Earth system science and modeling in ways that directly contribute to improved precipitation forecast skill and usefulness. The excerpt points toward innovations such as improved representation of processes that drive heavy precipitation and flooding, improvements across different timescales, and approaches that make model output more actionable for real-world forecasting and risk reduction.

13) Are specific research topics listed in the provided excerpt?

No. The excerpt notes that the notice does not list individual research topics in the portion provided, but it clearly centers on precipitation and flood prediction improvements through Earth system science and modeling.

14) What funding mechanism(s) will NOAA use for awards?

Funding will be provided through grants and cooperative agreements.

15) What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The award ceiling is $250,000.

16) How many awards does NOAA expect to make?

NOAA expects to make about five awards.

17) When was this opportunity created?

The opportunity was created on October 11, 2022.

18) What was the original application deadline?

The original application deadline was January 26, 2023.

19) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants are listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility section of the official announcement. The provided information indicates eligibility may extend beyond a narrow set of institutions depending on the program's specific eligibility language.

20) How will diversity and inclusion be treated in the application review?

Diversity and inclusion are an explicit requirement for both proposal development and project execution, and applications will be evaluated in part on how well they address these principles.

21) How does the announcement define diversity and inclusion?

The announcement defines diversity as the mix of individual attributes that help organizations achieve their objectives. It defines inclusion as a culture that connects each person to the organization.

22) Why does NOAA emphasize diversity and inclusion for this program?

The provided description indicates NOAA views inclusive and diverse research teams and practices as essential to creativity, productivity, and the long-term strength of the climate research community that supports national forecasting and resilience goals.

23) What broader national goals does this opportunity support?

It supports improvements that can reduce risk and build resilience, with an emphasis on precipitation and flood hazards that affect public safety, health, economic stability, and national security.

24) What is the intended pathway from research to real-world benefit?

The opportunity emphasizes not only understanding climate variability and change, but also converting that knowledge into practical improvements that produce more accurate, reliable, and timely precipitation information usable for forecasting and risk reduction.