NOAA Climate Program Office

Funding Opportunity Description: The NOAA Climate Program Office's (CPO) Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program supports research teams that conduct innovative, interdisciplinary, user-inspired, and regionally relevant research that informs resource management and public policy. CPO funds eleven different RISA teams across the United States (US) and Pacific Islands, many of which are a model for interdisciplinary science and assessment. NOAA's RISA program is overseen by CPO's Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI) division. CSI provides leadership and support for decision support research, assessments and climate services development activities in support of adaptation. In addition to RISA, CSI's programs include the International Research and Applications Project (IRAP), the Sectoral Applications Research Program (SARP), the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), and the Coastal and Ocean Climate Applications program (COCA). CSI is also an active partner in the NOAA National Climate Data Center's (NCDC) efforts to build an integrated regional climate services partnership. NCDC employs six Regional Climate Services Directors (RCSDs) to coordinate and lead this partnership bringing together NOAA offices and close external partners such as RISA teams, Regional Climate Centers, State Climatologists, and Sea Grant. The partnership will help make climate information relevant and accessible to people across the US. NOAA seeks to marshal climate assets and partners towards the common goal of assessing regional needs and vulnerabilities and then supporting the development and delivery of timely climate services that aid adaptation and mitigation choices. RISA and CSI activities address the societal challenges identified in NOAA's Next-Generation Strategic Plan (NGSP): i) climate impacts on water resources; ii) coasts and climate resilience; iii) sustainability of marine ecosystems; and iv) changes in the extremes of weather and climate. These efforts support NOAA's vision to create and sustain enhanced resilience in ecosystems, communities, and economies, as outlined in the NGSP. In FY2013, NOAA CPO and its partners are holding two competitions for research funding. Competition 1 is soliciting proposals to two priorities: one RISA team focused on the South Central region of the US (Priority 1); and one RISA team focused on the upper Midwestern US (Priority 2). For Competition 1, we estimate that $3.5 million over five years will be available for each priority pending budget appropriations. Awards will be at a funding level of approximately $700,000 per year. Competition 2 is soliciting proposals only from RISA teams and their partners to conduct projects relevant to one of four priorities: Preparing for floods in urban coastal communities (Priority 3); Scenario and management planning processes (Priority 4); Drought monitoring and prediction products to support decision making (Priority 5); and Climate impacts on marine and Great Lakes ecosystems (Priority 6). For Competition 2, we estimate that $500 thousand to $3 million will be available for approximately 5 to 15 awards. Awards will be at a funding level between $75,000 and $200,000 per year. Please download the RISA Information Sheet for more detailed information about each priority (http://www.cpo.noaa.gov/cpo_pa/risa/).