FY2018 Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed Project

The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) is a national and regional partnership working to provide ocean, coastal and Great Lakes observations, data, tools, and forecasts to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment. NOAA, along with the IOOS stakeholders views a community coastal and ocean modeling test environment as essential to a sustained and operational IOOS. A modeling environment was established with the Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed (COMT). To continue to advance coastal and ocean model predictions and forecasts, it is important that we continue to coordinate development and testing work between federal and non-federal operational and research partners. The COMT is a forum for that work. The program priorities for this funding opportunity are to facilitate and accelerate the transition of models and model based technologies from research environments toward operational readiness. As part of this transition, we will improve our understanding of coastal ocean and lake processes and ultimately apply this knowledge to predictions of events and changes that impact coastal lives and livelihoods. Of particular interest are coastal ocean and lake phenomena that intersect the mission goals of NOAA, other operational agencies, and the IOOS Regional Associations. The U.S. IOOS Program is seeking to fund projects, which advance new or existing solutions that address long standing and emerging coastal modeling and forecast product development challenges. The projects will be focused on models, tools or products for which there are demonstrated operators and end users. Funding will be targeted to models, tools or products that are sufficiently mature for evaluation and transition to long term operations. This announcement specifically funds activities needed to progress through the transitional stages from research toward full operations such as system integration, testing, validation, and verification. Projects are also expected to participate in and advance the operation of the U.S. IOOS COMT under a community modeling environment. Total estimated funding for all awards is up to $2 million per year from the U.S. IOOS Program. Multiple awards are anticipated, subject to availability of funds, in amounts up to $300,000 per year for up to three years. The number of awards is anticipated to range from approximately three (3) to five (5), and will be adjusted based on availability of funds. Proposals not funded in the current fiscal period may be considered for funding in the next fiscal period (Fiscal Year 2019) without NOAA repeating the competitive process outlined in this announcement. Investigators are highly encouraged to visit the U.S. IOOS Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed website for more information about the Testbed: https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/COMT/ and https://ioos.us/comt/.