About the Earth System Research Laboratory

Integrating Research and Technology

What does the Earth System Research Laboratory do for the nation?

The Earth System Research Laboratory's mission is to observe and understand the Earth system and to develop products through a commitment to research that will advance the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) environmental information and services on global-to-local scales.

Experiments concerning the chemical properties and reactions of atmospheric gases and particles help improve NOAA's predictions in climate, air quality, and ozone depletion.

The work at the Earth System Research Laboratory includes:

understanding the roles of gases and particles that contribute to climate change,
providing climate information related to water management decisions,
improving weather prediction,
understanding the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer, and
developing air quality forecast models.

Background

NOAA Research has consolidated the six organizations of NOAA Research in Boulder, Colorado, into a single center - The Earth System Research Laboratory. This consolidation substantially improves the research and execution of the organizations by having four more-focused Divisions - Global Monitoring, Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, and Global Systems - and a more effective and coordinated management structure. The consolidation also will result in better integration of science through the development of research and technology themes that are being developed across Divisions.

Recent Accomplishments

Discovered new factors that cause ozone pollution in the Houston, Texas area and observed that leaks of reactive gases from petrochemical refineries prevalent in the region are a much larger factor than were previously expected. Payoffs: NOAA's research findings regarding ozone pollution in the Houston area have altered the policy approach of Texas air quality managers, improving air quality forecasting in the area and saving 70,000 jobs and $10 billion for the state.

Pictured is a 12-hour rain forecast provided by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The WRF model will greatly increase the accuracy and specificity of such weather forecasts

Established that forests and agriculture in North America may be sequestering a sizable fraction of the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuel combustion in the US. Payoffs: This finding opens possibilities that forestry and agricultural practices may be modified to reduce the rate of increase of global carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Implemented a new and innovative approach called an observational "testbed" method, which employs a suite of weather observation instruments to determine the best dataset that can be used to improve forecasts of precipitation and runoff in mountainous coastal regions. Such short-term forecasts in coastal areas are not as advanced as those in the interior U.S. because of limited offshore observations and the blockage of conventional weather radar beams by mountains. Payoffs: The focus on testing new observing capabilities in regional testbeds translates into improvements in NOAA's observing system and forecasts. The improved forecasts have been used, for example, to mitigate the effects of major floods over the U.S. west coast.

NOAA's Science on a Sphere^TM enthralls both children and adults as they learn about the atmosphere, land, oceans, and biology of the "whole-Earth" system.

Established a multiagency Developmental Test Center in Boulder to test new short-range numerical weather prediction techniques, which is initially focusing on the development of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model as both an operational model and as a research vehicle for the larger modeling community. Payoffs: The WRF model will greatly increase the accuracy and specificity of weather and air quality forecasts.
Educated hundreds of students and parents about the changing Earth and its processes through Science on a Sphere^TM, which presents NOAA's global science in an exciting way through a three-dimensional representation of our planet as if the viewer were looking at the Earth from outer space. Payoffs: Science on a Sphere^TM has become a powerful and revolutionary system for educating the public on the holistic nature of the Earth's atmosphere, land, oceans, and biology.

What's next for the Earth System Research Laboratory?

Over the next five to ten years, the Laboratory will work to:

Improve understanding of air-sea, air-land, and air-ice interactions to advance and evaluate operational research models for weather, air quality, and climate.
Improve understanding and capabilities to predict the connections of weather and climate phenomena.
Coordinate basic research on climate and regional water systems with applied research on how such information can be used in adaptive management strategies.
Improve short-range weather prediction on local and regional scales.
Improve medium range weather forecasts on global scales.
Develop and test new methods and tools to improve streamflow predictions, flood warnings, and drought monitoring.
Quantify and understand the dynamics of sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon.
Foster greater collaboration among partners to improve the dissemination of information relating to non-carbon dioxide atmospheric gases and climate change.
Link the research and information on the impact of aerosols (airborne fine particles) on both climate and air quality.
Increase activities in air quality monitoring and develop a new generation of prototype air quality forecast models and modeling techniques.
Interpret trends in global stratospheric ozone, the Antarctic ozone hole, global atmospheric ozone depleting substances, and surface radiation.

Research Partnerships

The Earth System Research Laboratory works with multiple partners, including the

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (University of Colorado),
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (Colorado State University),
National Center for Atmospheric Research,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
U.S. Department of Energy, and
many partners within NOAA.

Through the consolidation of the NOAA Research organizations in Boulder into the Earth System Research Laboratory, NOAA Research had taken special care to preserve the excellent ongoing activities. Further, all of the Boulder staff were involved in planning the new Laboratory. To include the necessary insights gained from research involving the biosphere and the oceans, the Earth System Research Laboratory is strengthening its partnerships with the NOAA Cooperative Institutes, with external constituencies, and with other NOAA laboratories that represent those areas of expertise.