Overview: ESRL Integrating Research and Technology Themes
Paramount in the planning of the Earth System Research Laboratory has been the integration of scientific and technical activities to be able to better address broad-scoped, "whole-Earth" information needs. Equally important has been the necessity of developing future collaborative partnerships with other NOAA Laboratories and Programs, and with other organizations. This set of Integrating-Theme pages describes the science goals, activities and interactions with partners.
These themes have been developed to answer the following questions.
- Goal: "What is to be achieved?"
- Scope: "What breadth of expertise is needed?"
- Rationale: "Why are we doing it?"
- Payoffs: "What does achieving the goal accomplish?"
- Major collaborators and their research: "With whom are we working and why?"
- Contributions to NOAA's matrix goals: "How are we benefiting NOAA, the Nation and the world?"
- Major information products: "Who cares, why and how are we and our stakeholders interacting?"
These Themes are examples of the integrated approach that ESRL and its Director will emphasize as the Laboratory begins in FY 2006. A characteristic is research that contributes to more than one NOAA Goal and Program, which we believe is NOAA's "next job".
While internal (i.e., within OAR Boulder) interactions (e.g., monitoring, process observations, and modeling to characterize an Earth-system feature) were the beginning point of the planning to meet the above objective, the Boulder Planning and Transition Team also focused on other necessary linkages with:
- Other OAR laboratories and OAR Programs
- The OAR Cooperative Institutes
- Other NOAA Line Offices
- Our extramural partners.
Of course, ESRL's Integrating Themes will always be a dynamic enterprise, changing as research advances and improving by the interactions with others. Linkages and partnerships will always be an ongoing effort for ESRL. As all do, we seek one NOAA. We welcome comments and input.