NOAA Adds Another $1 Million to Cooperative Agreement with University of Wisconsin

NOAA ADDS ANOTHER $1 MILLION TO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
WITH UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will add an additional $1 million to its multi-year cooperative agreement with the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Initially signed in 2001 and amended earlier this year, the agreement supports research on the applications of Earth-orbiting satellites to the analysis and prediction of weather and climate. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

CIMSS is a partnership between the University of Wisconsin and NOAA’s Satellites and Information Service emphasizes the use of satellite data from the agency’s geostationary and polar-orbiting spacecraft, leading to a better understanding of the impact clouds and radiation have on climate and weather forecasts and overall environmental trends.

According to the guidelines of the agreement, CIMSS will continue to study ways to better incorporate satellite instruments into weather and climate prediction, and improve operations in the areas of remote sensing, data collection and archiving.

“Climate and weather are complex phenomena. It’s going to take a team approach between scientists in government and academia to really advance our understanding of the changing environment,” said Gregory W. Withee, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellites and Information Service.

In 1980, a Memorandum of Agreement between NOAA and the University established the CIMSS, one of four cooperative research institutes funded by NOAA’s Satellites and Information Service. The current CIMSS effort is a $21 million program, begun in 2001, that runs through September 2005.

NOAA’s Satellites and Information Service is the nation’s primary source of space-based oceanographic, meteorological, and climate data. It operates the nation’s environmental satellites, which are used for ocean and weather observation and forecasting, climate monitoring, and other environmental applications. Some of the oceanographic applications include sea-surface temperature for hurricane and weather forecasting and sea-surface heights for El Niño prediction.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation’s coastal and marine resources.

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