NOAA Awards More Than $2.9 Million To Howard University To Fund Atmospheric Research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded $2.9 million to Howard University’s NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will continue to fund the NCAS, a center established by NOAA to research critical environmental conditions occurring nationally and globally. The NCAS is dedicated to improving the understanding of climate variability and weather prediction. It seeks to: determine the regional effects and impacts of long-range transport of aerosols; participate in the development and application of the Weather Research and Forecast Model; and conduct research in the development of new methodologies for improving weather and climate model prediction.

“NOAA is always proud to partner with institutions, like Howard, known for their high standards in academia and research. This NOAA grant will support one of NOAA’s key missions by helping to predict weather patterns more accurately,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA and the Bush Administration are working to improve the understanding of our environment and to strengthen regional weather initiatives like the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences.”

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific, and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

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 our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit http://www.noaa.gov