NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, or NOAA Research, requests $360.7 million (M) in FY2005, reflecting a net decrease of -$53.5M over the FY2004 Appropriation level. This overall decrease represents the Administration’s current priorities for research activities in NOAA.
Climate Research: NOAA requests a net increase of +$13.5M in climate research programs. The increase includes funding to support the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI). The request focuses on support for near-term deliverables for the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) and continued implementation of the sustained ocean observing system. The increase will support:
Carbon-Cycle Atmospheric Observing System (+$6.5M) to continue implementation of a Carbon Cycle Atmospheric Observing System, focused on North America, to determine carbon dioxide sources and sinks in and around the U.S and to improve meteorological transport models. The goal is to reduce the uncertainty in the estimation of the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink and to gauge the effectiveness of future U.S. carbon emission and sequestration strategies.
Carbon-Cycle Atmospheric Observing System Backgrounder [PDF]
Maintain Current Services: NOAA requests +$45.4M, including +$3.7M for NOAA Research, for inflationary adjustments to maintain current services in order to sustain program activities vital to NOAA’s core services and research.
Marine Aquaculture: NOAA requests $1.6M to run the annual NOAA Marine Aquaculture national competition to strengthen aquaculture research in regions where partnerships between NOAA and the external community have already been established, and to support the education and extension network.
Phased Array Radar: NOAA requests $1.01M to develop the phased array radar. Following transfer of a phased array antenna from Lockhead Martin to the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Oct 2003, the system is now ready to be used as a testbed for reengineering, meteorological studies, and software development. NSSL will mount a vigorous field campaign in FY 2005 to compare the capabilities of phased array and the current NEXRAD system to detect severe weather.
National Sea Grant College Program: NOAA requests $57.5M to support marine and coastal research, education and extension under the enacted National Sea Grant College Program Act Amendments of 2002, which reauthorized Sea Grant as part of the Department of Commerce.
University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS): $2.0 is requested in NOAA Program Support for outsourcing with UNOLS for ships in the Pacific to support Fisheries-Oceanographic Coordination Investigations, VENTS, and DART tsunami moorings in the Gulf of Alaska and Pacific Ocean. This will provide an estimated 80 operating days and allow the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown to meet research needs in the Atlantic Ocean.
Climate and Global Change Program: NOAA requests a net decrease of $9.1M as a partial offset to support near term deliverables of the interagency Climate Change Science. A portion of this offset will impact the breadth of the Program's competitive grant funding.
Ocean Exploration and Undersea Research: NOAA requests decreases in Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes programs. This includes reductions of -$1.7M for the Ocean Exploration Program and -$1.0M for the National Undersea Research Program.
NOAA Profiler Network: As required in the FY 2004 Appropriation, the National Weather Service is undergoing a cost and operational effectiveness analysis to determine which of seven alternatives is the most cost-effective observing system. The analysis is nearing completion. NOAA will continue operations and maintenance of the NPN with $4.15M in FY 2004. NOAA requests no funds to operate the National Profiler Network (NPN) in FY 2005.
Educational Partnership Program: NOAA requests a transfer of $15.0M to NOAA Research from NOAA Program Support for the Educational Partnership Program (EPP) with Minority Serving Institutions. NOAA Research has administered EPP for the past several years. The program encourages students to pursue applied research and education in NOAA-related fields.
Space Environment Center: NOAA requests a transfer of $5.3M from NOAA Research to the National Weather Service for the Space Environment Center (SEC) to operate within the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) to reflect the operational nature of solar forecasts. SEC will continue to support the research framework necessary to ensure that new research findings are utilized at SEC.
U.S. Weather Research Program: NOAA requests a transfer to the National Weather Service of $5.2M for the U.S. Weather Research Program to continue to support applied weather research so that positive research results may be transitioned to operations.
| NOAA Research (OR&F) | FY 2005 Change ($M) |
|---|---|
Climate Research Weather and Air Quality Research Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Research Info Tech, R&D, and Science Edu. |
|
| NOAA Research (PAC) | -10.8 |
| TOTAL FY 2005 Program Change | -53.5 |
FY2005 Congressional Request ($K) details
FY 2005 NOAA Research Budget Highlights [PDF] - Get Acrobat Reader
For more information, contact:
Mary Anne Whitcomb, NOAA Research
Deputy Chief Financial Officer
(301) 713-1495
