NOAA, UCAR renew, expand partnership to advance extreme weather research

NOAA and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) offsite link acting on behalf of the National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) offsite link signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) earlier this week to renew and expand a collaborative partnership between the two organizations. The MOU is designed to facilitate sharing research, tools and data by enabling scientists to more productively conduct research with each other.

NSF NCAR, which is a federally funded research and development center, provides the atmospheric and related Earth system science community with state-of-the-art resources. These resources include supercomputers, research aircraft, sophisticated computer models and extensive data sets.

“This agreement furthers our mutual mission that focuses on science that helps the nation be better prepared for extreme weather,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Prioritizing areas of cooperative research and continuing to build on strong relationships enables our scientists to more effectively advance weather, water and climate knowledge.” 

The new agreement builds on the successes of a previous MOU, which began in January 2019 and expired in July 2024, and was focused on weather and climate modeling capabilities for research and operations. The new MOU broadens the scope of the partnership to encompass several strategic areas, including science support, workforce development and community engagement. Some of the science initiatives outlined in this MOU include advancing weather observing technologies, understanding high-impact weather hazards and conducting social, behavioral and economic science research.

“NSF NCAR and NOAA have a long history of partnership,” said NSF NCAR Director Everette Joseph, Ph.D. “This MOU represents a collective agreement that continued, focused collaboration is vital for helping both organizations make progress to answer some of the most difficult scientific questions that benefit the U.S. economy and public safety. I look forward to growing our partnership into the future.”

This MOU, which incorporates contributions from NSF NCAR’s and NOAA’s weather-related labs, programs and NOAA’s National Weather Service offices, advances and accelerates the nation’s understanding and application of Earth system science.

Climate, weather and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources.