2011-2016 Science Plan for Cooperative Agreement #:NA11SEC4810003

Dr. Vernon R. Morris, Director and Principal Investigator

Participating Institutions

• Howard University (Lead Institution)
• Jackson State University
• University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
• University of Texas at El Paso
• University of Maryland College Park
• State University of New York at Albany

A.    Introduction

Purpose of the Science Plan

The science plan gives a succinct summary of the NCAS research activities, and its main purpose is to serve as the guide for conducting NCASA research during the next five years.  Together with the Implementation plan, it will be used as bases for the evaluation of performance metrics and deliverables for the required NCAS reports that are submitted to NOAA / EPP bi-annually.  In addition, the Science plan and the Implementation plan will be used by NOAA /EPP as a guide in determining accomplishments and metrics met and during the NCAS Third-Year Program Evaluation in 2014.

Science Plan synopsis

The NCAS research basically consists of three thematic areas: (1) Weather and climate analysis and modeling, (2) Air quality analysis and modeling, and (3) Observation programs to support research and education. During the past few years, NCAS faculty and graduate students have conducted collaborative projects with NOAA scientists in each of these thematic areas to enhance the NOAA mission in improving weather, climate, and air quality forecasting accuracies. During the next five years, NCAS will continue to focus on these three areas of research, and develop new research activities in an effort to further enhance the NOAA mission in these areas.

In the area of climate and weather prediction, research during the past five years has been conducted to evaluate and improve model prediction of convection, tropical cyclone track, and boundary layer processes.  NCAS has also conducted studies of the impact of soil moisture and surface boundary forcing on seasonal precipitation prediction using NOAA/GSM and CWRF models respectively.  During the next five years, emphasis will be placed on enhancing these research projects for NOAA operational applications.  New focuses in this area of research are to further our understanding of the processes of aerosols’ direct and indirect effects, and clouds-aerosols interaction, and their effects on convection and radiation, and to develop improved treatments of model physics to account for aerosols and clouds effects. Details of strategies and approaches for climate and weather research are described in Section 5d, and those of the milestones and deliverables for this research area during the next five years research are provided in Appendix II-B of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

In the area of air quality research, several topics will be emphasized during the next five years: understanding of Ozone formation, evaluation and development of atmospheric chemistry mechanism on multiple scales (local, regional and global scales) on the ability of air quality models to make forecasts of ozone and particulates on all scales, and air pollution effects on visibility; mineral dust observations and characterization, and optical characterization of dust; and in particular, performing analyses of AEROSE data, a set of field data gathered from the many years the NCAS cruise ship experiments on board the NOAA Ron Brown ship in trying to further our understanding of Saharan dust effects on Hurricane formation and their environmental and health impacts.  Details on the strategies and approaches for air quality analyses and forecasting research are discussed in Section 5d, and those of the milestones and deliverables for this research area during the next five years research are provided in Appendix II- C of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

The observation program established at Howard University Beltsville Campus (HUBC), the mesonet systems at JSU, and surface observation facilities at other NCAS campuses (UTEP and UPRM), host a wealth of instruments that routinely measure surface fluxes, urban and coastal/marine boundary layer meteorological parameters, profiles of water vapor, ozone and aerosols within the troposphere that are important for weather, climate and air quality research. During the next five years, new research activities are focused on developing emerging NWS operational observing technology testbed at HUBC to support the NOAA mission.  Details for developments of observational capabilities and goals and strategies are described in Section 5d, and those of milestones and deliverables for this area during the next five years research are provided in Appendix II-E of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

A new area of research during the next five year lies in the social economic and behavioral sciences that are related to weather, climate, and air quality forecasting responsibilities of the NOAA mission.  To realize an informed society that understands the ecosystem approach to management and the integration of science into social and economic decision-making it is crucial for research to be performed that evaluates the economic impacts as well as societal benefits, responses, and attitudes towards NOAA products and services. In this area, natural disaster risk communication basic social and behavioral research, public communication outreach, and expanding NCAS capacity for conducting informal science education on societal concerns and environmental literacy will be conducted.  Details for conducting these social economics and behavior sciences will be described in Section 5d, and those of milestones and deliverables for this area during the next five years research are provided in Appendix II-F of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

Deliverables

Details of milestones and deliverables for all the research activities in NCAS three thematic areas during the next five years are provided in Appendix II of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

B.    Center Scientific Management

Organization Chart

Center personnel roles and responsibilities

Director

Dr. Vernon Morris will serve as the Director of NCAS. Dr. Morris is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Atmospheric Sciences.  He has served PI and Director of NCAS since its inception in 2001.  Because of its strategic importance to the success of the NCAS, the Center Director will have direct reporting obligations to the office of the Senior Vice-Provost for Research This line of reporting places NCAS in a unique position to obtain an audience with the University’s chief research officer.  The Center Director will dedicate 44% of his time during the academic year to the management, research  and administration of the award and 70% of his time during the summer.  This corresponds to a 50% workload dedicated to NCAS activities on an annual basis.  The Center Director will be the lead advocate and representative of the CSC and will manage the Center activities so that they respond to NOAA mission needs.  The Director will lead strategic planning and guidance for executing Center goals.  He will also lead efforts for planning new or revised program goals and objectives. The Director will design the overall scientific focus and plans for NCAS and provide oversight and management for implementation of all aspects of the Center.

Deputy Director

Dr. Everette Joseph, an active researcher in the Center since 2001, will serve as the Deputy Director of NCAS. The Deputy Director will represent the Director on an as-needs basis.   The Deputy Director will commit ~40% time to this position during the calendar year.  Dr. Joseph is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Graduate Program in Atmospheric Sciences.  The Deputy Director will serve as the lead scientist for the Beltsville Research Facility and the lead coordinator for the surface observation programs within the CSC.

Distinguished Scientist

The Distinguished Scientist will assist the Director with providing overall research direction to the Center.  His responsibilities will be to develop significant research projects for NCAS, with other Cooperative Science Centers, with other minority Serving Institutions, other NOAA science and research facilities, and other relevant governmental agencies. The Distinguished Scientist will seek new opportunities for NCAS research and collaboration with NOAA and other agencies as well as serve as senior internal advisor to the Center.

Education Lead

The Education Lead will be a recognized expert in the fields of education, psychology, or a related field of study of success for minorities in science and engineering education, and mixed method psychology engineering research design.  They will lead the coordination of the NCAS education programs and strategic planning and evaluation.

Program Coordinator

Ms. Kimberly L. Smith will serve as the Program Manager of NCAS.  Ms. Smith will report directly to the Director.  She will be responsible for the daily operations of the NCAS office and as such have supervisory responsibility for core staff, program management and planning.  Ms. Smith will be responsible for programmatic functions involving the students, student tracking and scheduling, generating monthly activity reports, ensuring the generation of the annual reports, student databases, and ensuring that internal (on-campus) reports are delivered to NOAA in timely fashion.  Further responsibilities of the Ms. Smith are to provide follow-up reports for major meetings and programmatic interactions and maintaining priorities of NCAS in event planning and scheduling.

Budget Analyst

The budget analyst will maintain financial records and reporting, handle purchases, arrange travel settlements, and disbursements to all NCAS personnel and participants, and other office duties as required.  The Budget Analysis will also be responsible for tracking and ensuring that subcontracts and related grants are set up and maintained. The Program Manager will identify the responsible financial counterparts in each institution and meet with them via quarterly teleconferences or as needed to discuss and update financial reporting and student financial tracking.  The purpose of this procedure is to improve the speed and efficiency of spending and financial reporting.

Outreach Coordinator

The Outreach Coordinator will be responsible for the administration of the outreach components of NCAS including collecting content for publicity documents, newsletters, website maintenance and upkeep, brochures, and press releases.  The Outreach coordinator will also provide oversight for the publicity program for NCAS, and coordinate NCAS-approved external outreach activities. The Outreach Coordinator will also be responsible for implementing the approved programmatic outreach activities.

Principal Investigators/Researchers

Each of the Partner Institutions will have an institutional co-PI who assumes responsibility for managing the education and research training components at their home institution, integration of the various components, and serve as the primary point of contact for the EAB and the NCAS. The institutional co-PIs are given in the table below.  The individuals in this table comprise the Executive Management Team (EMT).  Each institutional co-PI will be responsible for fulfilling the Terms and Conditions of their respective subcontracts.

NCAS will host two regular teleconferences – a monthly teleconference for the EMT that focuses on administrative and reporting issues and a separate monthly teleconference that focuses on science and education issues.  In addition, a new procedure will be implemented that will require each partner institution to provide a written monthly status update to NCAS main office.  This status update will be a brief synopsis of the Partner’s activities of the past month.  This will aid in the production of materials such as website updates, NCAS News Flashes, and provide information for the NCAS Newsletter. It is expected that the PIs at each institution will meet on at least a monthly basis to assure the integrity of the status update.

Working Group Meetings (for projects within the climate and weather prediction, air quality analysis and prediction teams) will be held on a regular basis to assure that there is sufficient interaction and coordination among the NOAA collaborators and the researchers within each project. The schedule of annual meetings (e.g. All-Hands Meetings, Science Team Meeting, Annual Conference) will be established during the first six months of the new cycle. These meetings will be rotated among relevant NOAA facilities and partnering institution facilities.  In the past these meetings have been co-located with the annual advisory board meeting.  It is anticipated that this cost-effective practice will continue.

The Education and Community Outreach Working Group will serve as a principal vehicle for weaving all aspects of this initiative into action for broadening the diversity and capacity of the nation’s STEM workforce (with emphasis on increasing engagement of African Americans, Hispanics, and other underserved populations) and enhancing community with NOAA science and services.   The Education Lead (Dr. Winston, will serve as the lead of this group.  It will have representatives from each partner institution.

Executive Management Team

Center Decision making process for each specific area

NCAS decision making process for each of working group lies in the responsibility of the Center Director, Deputy Director, Distinguished Scientist, and the NOAA Technical monitor(s) (thereafter called SEC – the Science Executive Committee).  Dr. Everette Joseph will serve as the leader in the area of weather and climate research, Dr. William Stockwell will serve as the leader in the area of air quality research, and Dr. Terri Adams-Fuller will serve as the leader in the area of social, behavioral, and economic sciences (SBE).  The leaders in each specific area will provide recommendations to the SEC in all key decisions affecting the design of research strategies and approaches for a particular project. In the event that any of the research projects is found to be unsatisfactory or unproductive based on findings from NCAS regular science teleconferences, annual science reviews, and on further scientific discussions with specific partners, the SEC will investigate causes of the problems and suggest proper strategies for addressing the issue so as to ensure that the overall center research program is successful and meets the NOAA / EPP performance and evaluation metrics.

C.   Research-Science Overview

The NCAS research-science during the next five years is to build on NCAS’ strong track record of collaborative research in support of NOAA mission, particularly that of the National Weather Service (NWS).  This track record for example includes the production of an average of just under 20 publications per year in referred journals; all of the publications are on NOAA related research and most are collaborative with NOAA scientists.  This plan will sustain the growth of NCAS’ contribution to NOAA science objectives.  Described in sufficient details below are the research themes, goals, and strategies and approaches for each of the NCAS research activities.

Research Themes

NCAS research will be focused in the following two thematic areas.

(i) Integrated research and applications in climate and weather observations, analyses, and prediction in support of the NOAA’s mission

(ii)  Integrated research and applications in Air Quality Observations, Analyses, and Prediction in support of the NOAA’s mission

(iii) Observational programs in support of research in weather and climate analyses and prediction, and in air quality analyses and forecast, and in support of educational training of NCAS graduate students.

Goals

The proposed research, training, and development is specifically designed to support the Weather and Water, Climate, Mission Support Goals and all of NOAA’s cross-agency priorities: workforce development, integrated Earth observations, state-of-the-art research, an environmentally literate public, and building strong national and international relationships.  The partnership of six schools will build on the capacities developed, collaborations established, and lessons learned over the past ten years as a NOAA Cooperative Science Center. This science plan will define the NCAS research design; the education, workforce development and community outreach activities; and the integration of social, behavioral, and economic sciences translational research.  The translation of basic research into applications and societal benefits will be an integral component of the initiative.  For example NCAS will build an observational testbed to aid the transfer of emerging observational technologies to into NWS operations.  On societal benefits NCAS is broadening access to STEM educational opportunities in the NOAA sciences through enhancement of hands-on research experiences for students spanning the K-12 spectrum in concert with broader community outreach.

Strategies and Approaches

NCAS research will be designed and executed by four teams – the Climate Working Group, the Weather Working Group, the Air Quality Working Group, and the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Working Group. The four working groups will work with NOAA Education and NOAA line office employees to coordinate the research and training activities and accomplish the successful integration of activities and design observational strategies to support model development and to improve model forecast. Synergistic study designs will utilize existing observational infrastructures and modeling capacities at the partner institutions as well as NOAA facilities (NOAA vessels, research platforms, and laboratories).  Emphasis will be placed on regions characterized by significant aerosol emissions over the desert regions and urban zones, etc. and transitional regimes through rapidly developing and/or densely populated regions.  It is particularly along these transitional regimes that the complexities of the interactions between environment and society confound the assessments of climate change and its impacts.

The research, training, and outreach described in the accompanied Implementation Plan support the mission goals of “Climate” and “Weather and Water” specified in the FY2009-FY2014 NOAA strategic plan and objectives laid out in the FY2009-2013 NCEP Strategic Plan, the FY2010 NOAA Climate Service (NCS) Draft Plan,  and the NESDIS/STAR Strategic Plan FY2009-2014.  The five goals that NCAS will address are in the following objectives:

1. Describe and understand the state of the climate system through integrated observations, monitoring, and data management
2. Understanding Climate Processes and Improvement in Modeling Capability
3. Improving Lead-time and Accuracy for Weather and Water Warning and Forecasts
4. Provide Air Quality Information, Predictions, and Decision Support Tools for Policies and Emission Management
5. Development of Capabilities for Observation Systems for routine delivery and attribution of past and current state of the climate

Objective (1) NOAA calls for a process-level understanding and enhanced modeling capacities of the elements of the Earth system that relates to atmosphere and its composition, the oceans, terrestrial tropics, and the cryosphere in order to provide better analyses and predictions.  In objectives (2) and (3), NOAA calls for a community modeling approach to develop both operational and applied research needs of NOAA by providing high performance computing, data assimilation, and modeling tools to monitor the Earth’s environment and predict future states.  The NOAA strategic plan in air quality (4) calls for research in three key areas: model development, regional assessments, and improved measurement tools to monitor long-term trends. Objective (5) NOAA calls for a continued and expanded global observation and monitoring of greenhouse gases and aerosols to provide higher spatial and temporal resolution information on regional scales, and addressing known societal challenges of significant concern by using appropriate climate data and analyses and forecasts.

NCAS research activities generally fall within one of three thematic thrusts: Weather and Climate, Air Quality, and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).   Within each thematic thrust, NCAS defines several areas that map onto NOAA mission goals.  Within each area, we have defined thirty-two activities: Fifteen (15) in weather and climate, fourteen (14) in air quality, and three (3) in SBE.  These activities represent projects involving numerous NOAA collaborations with twenty-eight NCAS faculty and postdoctoral fellows.  Students will be trained in each project.  Additional research partnerships may come from variety of sources including private sector, academia, federal non-NOAA, and international.

Weather and Climate Analyses and Prediction

In weather and climate research thrust, research in atmosphere-surface interaction, aerosol-cloud interaction, climate model development satellite remote sensing will enable a greater integration with NOAA research objectives (1), (2) and (3) referenced above.  Specifically, the science plan in this thematic area includes: (A) Surface-atmosphere interaction and PBL processes, the emphasis of this research being on understanding roles of aerosols and clouds in land-atmosphere exchange; (B) Convection, microphysics, and cloud-aerosols radiative effects, with the research being focused on investigating direct effects of aerosols in NCEP GFS-GOCART Model, and process studies of aerosol-cloud indirect effects; (C) Model development for climate, with an emphasis on improving the physics representation and prediction at regional scale; and (D) Enabling greater decision support applications of satellite data and improved radiative transfer treatment in NOAA’s Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM). The research activities in (4) entails forward modeling and closure studies to improve CRTM, and remote sensing studies of vegetation states. Details of weather and climate analysis and prediction research activities are described in Sections 6.1 of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

Air Quality Analysis and Forecasting

In the area of air quality research, NCAS will emphasize on efforts in the development of new chemical mechanisms and data assimilation, and in evaluations of air quality forecast models.  These efforts will enable a greater integration with NOAA research objective (4) referenced above. Specifically, there are four main topics of studies in this thematic area: (A) Formation and fate of air pollutants for air quality forecasting, (B) Mineral dust observations and characterization, (C) Satellite algorithm development for aerosols, and (D) Estimating societal economical and health impacts of air quality and air quality forecasting. In topic (A) research activities include: understanding of Ozone and aerosols formation, evaluation and development of atmospheric chemistry mechanisms, atmospheric chemistry sensitivity and process analyses, and air pollution effects on visibility.  In topic (B) research activities include: AEROSE data analyses, chemical characterization of crustal aerosols, optical characterization of dust, and climate change and historical records of Saharan dust trends.  In topic (C) research activities include: algorithm development for improved satellite retrieval, and development of Saharan dust index and new satellite products. In topic (D) research activities include: economic value of air quality forecast information, development of modeling tools for the direct assessment of toxic air pollutant effects, and exploring airborne biodiversity.  Details of air quality research activities are described in Section 6.2 of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

Observational Programs in Support of NCAS Research and Training

Since 2001, with the support of NCAS funding, the Howard University Beltsville Campus (HUBC) has grown into a world-class mesoscale observation site.  Building upon this success and capacity and in support of research and education, NCAS will continue to strengthen its observation programs to better respond to NOAA research objective (5) stated above. Specifically, six research activities will be conducted for the emerging NWS operational observing technology testbed at HUBC: (A) All-weather ground-based LIDAR for NWS, (B) Extending decision support based application of NWS Ceilometer network, (C) Global Climate Observation System (GCOS) Upper Air Network (GUAN), (D) Microwave radiometer profiling and nowcasting, (E) Washington D.C. lightning mapping array demonstration project, and (F) Demonstration of Real-Time Mesoscale Analyses (RTMA) of PBL information.  Details of the NCAS observation programs are described in Section 6.3 of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

Integration Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) Sciences

Effective translation of NOAA sciences to the public and private sectors is essential for achieving the vision articulated in the NOAA Strategic plan.  In order to realize an informed society that understands the ecosystem approach to management and the integration of science into social and economic decision-making it is crucial for research to be performed that evaluates the economic impacts as well as societal benefits, responses, and attitudes towards NOAA products and services.  NCAS will address SBE research in two ways.  Research focused on human impacts – which is integrated within the air quality working group activity focused on forecast value and social and behavioral research that spans across working groups and is focused on communication, public perceptions, and social attitudes toward NOAA sciences. The proposed research projects will lead to the development of a new generation of services, advances in sensors / sensor networks, and establishment of an improved understanding of complex systems and their global interactions.

NCAS research in SBE component will focus on three activities: (1) Natural disaster risk communication basic social and behavioral research, (2) Publication communication and outreach, and (3) Expanding NCAS capacity for conducting informal science education research on societal concerns and environmental literacy.  Details of NCAS research programs in SBE are described in Section 6.4 of the accompanied NCAS Implementation Plan.

Performance Metrics

The NCAS performance metrics will include but not be limited to the following categories:

• Students trained in NOAA mission sciences
• Number of refereed manuscripts
• Annual amounts of leveraged funding
• Number of NOAA Collaborations

D.    Education and Outreach (including student research training, experiences,  and assignments)

Overview

The Education and Community Outreach Working Group will serve as a principal vehicle for weaving all aspects of this initiative into action for broadening the diversity and capacity of the nation’s STEM workforce (with emphasis on increasing engagement of African Americans, Hispanics, and other underserved populations) and enhancing community with NOAA science and services.   We anticipate that they will work closely with the SBE, Climate, Weather, and Air Quality Working groups in their efforts.  NCAS research, observations and data collection, data distribution and analyses, and evaluation, will all be used as teaching tools by the education, outreach, and workforce development components.   Specific examples include: formal training of NCAS-sponsored undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees; inclusion of pre-college students in various aspects of the research programs; the retooling of teachers/educators into participants in a cyber-competent STEM workforce; and reaching out to the entire “K-12” spectrum of the nation’s population with programs that enable them to evaluate the risks and benefits of NOAA science and technology to society. Several partnerships with several private sector companies and the other NOAA Cooperative Institutes have been forged over the past five years.  These partners will continue to play a major role in the NCAS activities including K-12 projects, in workforce development activities, and as sponsors of STEM internship programs.

Goals

NCAS will significantly enhance the competitiveness of all associated academic programs by building their capacity in the key areas that support NOAA education goals, which calls for increases in the numbers of domestic students earning degrees in STEM fields and transitioning into STEM professions in order to support the nation’s expanding science and technology economic base. These key areas include:

• Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
• Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics
• Environmental Sciences and Marine Sciences

NCAS will produce and integrate diverse geo-spatially referenced data sets related to the sociological impacts and responses – particularly of underserved communities and train professionals in their analyses and dissemination.

NCAS will coordinate STEM pre-college education and undergraduate research experiences across its partner campuses for nationwide impact.

NCAS will educate a new and ethnically diverse generation of US citizens trained in science and technology;

NCAS will increase the quality and quantity of our nation’s science and technology workforce, with more women and underrepresented minorities contributing to these increases; and

NCAS will change institutional organizational infrastructure such that the standard conduct of the university research enterprise will include pro-active local community outreach and integration with socio-cultural dynamics of the traditionally underrepresented and under-served populations

Strategies and Approach

NCAS has adopted a four-tiered approach to developing a talent pipeline in atmospheric sciences from underrepresented minorities and underserved communities.  It is comprised of programs that address the five key factors that have been attributed to attrition at the transition points along the education pathway; Access, Mentoring and Motivation, Professional Development, Education, and Distinction (as indicated by Degree or Career Placement).

Many of the current global, regional, and local issues of today are directly connected to climate and weather.  The challenges of making informed public policy decisions on climate change, air and water quality, energy and water resource planning and insurance issues are front page news.  These challenges also represent unprecedented career opportunities for new generations of students to explore their interests and contribute to society through a STEM education.  NCAS will exploit the interdisciplinary nature of these fields to broaden its appeal and attract a more diverse cohort of students toward future careers in STEM and in particular, atmospheric science.    NCAS outreach activities are designed to attract students towards careers in these fields.  The following sections outline the specific elements of NCAS’ education program.  The proposed approach is well aligned with the recommendations of an extensive body of literature included in the recent national academies report on broadening participation in STEM. NCAS aims to create a “distinctive” footprint by changing the national statistics for minority professionals in the atmospheric, marine, and environmental sciences.

NCAS has established a PhD pipeline through the NCAS partner institutions, and will continue to strengthen and expand the mechanism developed over the first five-year cycle over the next five years. NCAS provides a critical source of student support in the form of student stipends, tuition support, scholarships, and student training programs for this unique and potentially high-impact program.

Recruitment Strategies /Mentoring Programs

NCAS has developed and implemented numerous successful educational and outreach efforts that focus on impacting students enrolled in all of the NCAS partner institutions at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. NCAS will provide summer research internships to a wide variety of undergraduates and transitioning graduate students at NOAA facilities (including the sea-going vessels when available) and the NCAS facilities (particularly observational HUBC, Isla Magueyes).  The internships will continue to serve as a primary recruitment tool for NCAS graduate programs.  Over the lifetime of the HUPAS program, nearly 60% of the enrollees have participated in an NCAS internship.  NCAS will raise this level of these interactions to enhance recruitment and the level of program visibility through advertisements, mass mailings, social networking, and Center Directors’ teleconferences.

Pipeline and Enrichment Programs

NCAS will leverage the legacy of its MSI partners and knowledge gained from successful outreach programs to sustain and grow the talent pipeline in support of our education strategy.  NCAS will execute a focused recruitment program that feeds into the undergraduate, pre-graduate, and graduate degree programs.  NCAS has also developed graduate program elements that enhance student professional development through conference mentorship, summer workshops, student exchange, and new courses.

NCAS will sponsor K-12 activities over the next five years that include additional weather camps in Puerto Rico and middle school outreach in Washington, DC, El Paso, Texas, Jackson, MS, and in both San Juan and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The key features of each activity are outlined below.

NCAS faculty, staff and students will participate in key national conferences including, but not limited to the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the National Weather Association (NWA), the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the National Conference for Black Physics Students (NCBPS).

Colour of Weather Networking Mixers

NCAS will team with Colour of Weather, Inc. to co-sponsor networking mixers promoting diversity in atmospheric and environmental sciences at various professional meeting venues. The Colour of Weather” mixer events have been co-hosted by NCAS, NOAA, Howard University, and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) at the AMS Annual Meetings since 2004. These events have provided a unique recruitment opportunity for HUPAS, and have recently been elevated to a level of national recognition.  These formerly ad hoc events are now not only co-sponsored by the AMS, they are the featured diversity event at the annual conference. Colour of Weather, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmental literacy, diversity and inclusion in science education through community service and other activities that provide access to information, knowledge, technical consultation and support, and research.

Advanced Research Training Programs

NCAS will conduct a limited suite of summer workshops that rotate amongst the partner campuses.  This activity will be combined with technical workshops given at major professional meetings and aligned with the capabilities of the NCAS partnership (e.g. lidar applications, aerosol measurements and analyses, modeling).  Efforts will be made to ensure that applicants are from the NCAS partners, then from the other NOAA Cooperative Science Centers have full access to the training before opening it up to other Colleges and Universities.  All eligible students will be invited to apply through conference recruitment, email invitations/notifications, and website announcements (EPP and NCAS webpages).

NCAS Postdoctoral Fellows Program

NCAS will support two postdoctoral fellows in one of the thematic areas of weather, climate, air quality across NCAS and anticipates the support of additional postdoctoral researchersand research associates on other partner campuses.  The postdoctoral appointments will be awarded on an annual basis with an option for re-appointment based on performance.  This program is a continuation of the highly successful postdoctoral program implemented during the first five years at HU, UTEP, and UPRM.  In addition to the NCAS faculty mentor, each postdoctoral fellow is expected to work in direct collaboration with a NOAA civil servant.  The NCAS Postdoctoral Fellows will receive support for travel, professional development (technical skills training where relevant), and be included in the strategic planning, project management, and student mentoring.  The NCAS post doctors will also have a special meeting to discuss concerns and peer mentor during the Science Team Meetings.

Course and Seminar Delivery Mechanisms

NCAS will implement a regular series of exchange lectures each year that will involve faculty from each academic institution and/or their NOAA collaborators to visit another partner institutions and MSIs to discuss research opportunities, NOAA science, and opportunities for enhanced collaboration.  Some of the seminars delivered during these exchanges will be broadcast over the web in the form of webinars and videotaped for later use as an instructional tool at the MSIs.  The course routinely involves NOAA scientists as guest lecturers.  NCAS will aim to make this course content available online to all partner institutions.  Other courses will be identified based on need and expertise requirements within the partnership that can enhance academic programs.

Undergraduate Research and Exchange

All partners within NCAS will support undergraduate researchers during both the summer and academic year – including opportunities for undergraduate student exchange among partner institutions. NCAS will host a small cadre of students (primarily upper-level undergraduates who have indicated an interest in graduate programs at one of the NCAS partners) during the summer in the Washington, DC area for research internships at Howard University, NCEP, NESDIS, and other NOAA facilities.  This 8-10 week summer program will provide a stipend, provision of room, board and a meal plan, a NOAA-relevant research experience, and technical writing and presentation training. The summer program will culminate with a joint research colloquium in which students from all summer internships come to Washington, D.C. to deliver an oral presentation to a joint audience of NOAA representatives, mentors, and NCAS partners.

Field Training Experiences

The NCAS partners will coordinate a suite of field training experiences for students involved in center research.  It has been accepted that research training and mentoring is an efficient way of attracting and retaining students in STEM fields.  Faculty at Howard University will collaborate with AOML and NESDIS scientists in order to conduct research cruises aboard the Ronald H. Brown and other NOAA vessels to investigate aerosol processes in the marine environment. NCAS will support training and research activities that provide students with meaningful experiences in deploying meteorological and oceanographic instrumentation for climate and weather research and data analyses.  UPRM routinely hosts short (hours to days) to modest (days to weeks) field experiments aboard research vessels in the Caribbean and Tropical Atlantic.  NCAS will also entrain students into field experiments that may arise from other collaborations with NOAA at surface sites in Beltsville, MD and other locations to be determined over the course of the cooperative agreement.

Facility Tours

NCAS will leverage its partnership with NOAA and its current research platforms for engaging students on facility tours at the various NCAS facilities: the Howard University Beltsville Campus, the Jackson, MS, the NCAS facilities at the Isla Magueyes Research Station, and the observational facilities at UTEP.

K-12 Objectives and Activities

The primary goal for the NCAS K-12 activities is to provide mechanisms to retain students’ interests in STEM studies and careers at the transition points during pre-college education.  NCAS will enhance access to STEM knowledge for K-12 students, to provide mentoring (e.g. Colour of Weather, Summer Internships) and motivation (e.g. Science Fests), and to provide some opportunities for professional development (e.g. NCAS Postdoctoral Program).  The specific activities are described below.

High School Weather Camps

Weather Camps will be conducted each summer at four NCAS partner sites: Howard University, UTEP, Jackson State University, and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. These two-week live-in camps will afford students with an immersive opportunity to learn about basic weather systems, modern forecasting techniques, the impact of climate change, and the nature of catastrophic weather events. Students will also participate in small group discussions with experts in weather-related fields, conduct meteorological observations and experiments, and visit government and private sector organizations involved in the delivery of weather information to the public. In addition, students will have the opportunity to enhance their non-technical skills, such as: oral and written communication, effective participation in teamwork, and steps involved in the college application process.  Each high school camp will utilize the unique environment of its region to capitalize on local interests that focus on climate, tropical systems, and oceanography.  A suite of common materials and lessons has been developed over the past five years to be used as a resource for the camps.  Leveraged funding will be sought to enhance the NCAS weather camp activities and to potentially extend the camps to other venues and partnerships.

Middle School Camps

NCAS will sponsor a series of 1-week middle school camps over the course of the five-year award.  The first camps will be held in Washington, DC at the HU Middle School for Math and Science (MS)².   NCAS has reached an agreement with HU (MS)² to host as many as three, one-week camps each summer contingent on funding.

UPRM K-12 Student Workshops

NCAS PIs will conduct Workshops to K-12 students of the Puerto Rico public school system in collaboration with the UPRM Sea Grant College Program to promote the ocean literacy as well as the sustainable and wise use of marine resources.

NCAS Adopt-a-School Program

NCAS will forge partnerships with several middle and elementary schools in order to directly address the decline in the number of graduating high school students pursuing STEM majors in college.  This decline is even more significant in school children from underrepresented groups.  This age group is critical for the development of a strong pipeline of domestic talent for the nation’s future workforce.  Specifically, NCAS has initiated agreements with local schools (see letters of support in the appendices) in Washington, DC – Cleveland Elementary School and the Howard University Middle School for Math and Science (MS)², Jackson, MS – Piney Woods Country Life School and Brandon High School, and the Alejandro Tapia y Rivera school in Lajas, Puerto Rico.

ScienceFests

The ScienceFests are scientific demonstration events that encourage hands-on participation and active learning to engage and retain students’ interests.  NCAS will continue to host community ScienceFests in conjunction with student groups (e.g. GSAAS, the UPRM student chapter of the AMS, and a local non-profit (Colour of Weather, Inc.) in the Washington, DC community throughout each year.  The particular dates and venues will be coordinated in consultation with members of the Bates Area Community Association (BACA), and the adopted schools.  NCAS has conducted Science Fests in Washington, DC in the past with significant success with support of BACA (October 9, 2010) and has participated in the National Science and Engineering Expo on the Washington Mall (October 22-25, 2010).  NCAS will continue to seek leveraged support for these activities from local and national organizations.

Partnerships to Existing Programs

NCAS will seek to leverage strengths of successful programs that are operating in the academic institutions and their surrounding communities.  The specific strategies for developing these partnerships will be determined by the outreach coordinator to be hired under this award and included in the implementation plan.  Some examples of potential partners include the Upward Bound program; the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), and Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) Program.

Public Relations

To increase the visibility of NCAS in the community, the Center is proposing a multi-tiered approach to promote its research, training and outreach components to government, private organizations, and the academic and external communities. To this end, NCAS will simultaneously conduct an annual “NCAS Day” at each respective institution that will be widely broadcasted through either the internet or via videoconference depending on the intended audience and available resources. The content will primarily contain professional presentations and panel discussions. These broader communities will also be given the opportunity to tour NCAS facilities to gain an understanding of the research conducted within the Center.

Performance Metrics

The NCAS performance metrics will include but not be limited to the following categories:

• Students trained in NOAA mission sciences
• Degree production at all levels in Meteorology, Atmospheric Sciences, Marine Sciences, and Environmental Sciences (with particular emphasis on PhD production)
• Enhanced perception of STEM (from outreach programs)
• Number of students exposed to NOAA mission sciences and career pathways
• Number of refereed manuscripts
• Annual amounts of leveraged funding
• Number of NOAA Collaborations

E.     Appendices

Appendix I

Points of contact (Center Director, Deputy Director, Distinguished Scientist, Program Coordinator, Education Lead, Research -Science Leads)

1. Dr. Vernon Morris – Center Director
2. Dr. Everette Joseph – Deputy Director
3. Distinguished Scientist
4. Ms. Kimberly Smith – Program Coordinator
5. Education Lead
6. Research-Science Leads – Dr. Everette Joseph (Weather and Climate Analyses and Prediction), Dr. William Stockwell (Air Quality Analyses and Forecasting), and Dr. Tirre Adams-Fuller (Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences)

Appendix II

5-year Deliverables (education & Outreach, Research –Science, and  Center Management)

Education & Outreach 5-Year Deliverables

The table below provides recruitment (R) and graduation (G) targets for the Masters (M) and Doctoral (D) levels across all institutions for NCAS annually.  The numbers here are drawn from the student support numbers in the proposed budget and assume six (6) years for completion of a Doctoral degree and three (3) years for completion of a Masters degree.  Some of the students to be recruited will not be first-year graduate students.  In those instances, the projected completion times may be shorter than those listed above.

The shaded portion of the table represents recruitment and degree production in disciplines other than atmospheric sciences but with a concentration in atmospheric sciences.  JSU has a MS program in Environmental Sciences, UPRM has a doctoral program in Marine Sciences.  UTEP has doctoral programs in Computational Sciences and Environmental Sciences and Engineering.  The CSC will support one doctoral student in each of these doctoral programs.   In addition, the CSC will support Master students — one student in Geology and four in Physics.

The results above indicate recruitment targets of 3 MS students and 18 doctoral students in atmospheric sciences and graduate 3 MS and 10 PhDs in this field.  (HU, UMD, SUNYA), and it also indicates recruitment targets of 7 MS students and 6 doctoral students (in related fields with concentration in atmospheric sciences and graduate 6 MS and 6 PhDs in these fields. (JSU, UTEP, UPRM).

Appendix III

Master Schedule (including milestones) for Education and Outreach, Research –Science, and Center Management)

Appendix IV – Glossary and Acronyms and Abbreviations

1. 3DVAR – Three – Dimensional Variation
2. ACS – American Chemical Society
3. ADP – Automated Data Processing
4. AERADNET – AErosols and RADiation Observing NETwork
5. AEROSE – AERosols and Oceanographic Science Expedition
6. AFWA – Air Force Weather Agency
7. AG – Access Grid
8. AGL – Above Ground Level
9. AGU – American Geophysical Union
10. AHPCRC – Army High Performance Computing Research Center
11. AIRS – Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
12. AMMA – African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis
13. AMS – American Meteorological Society
14. AOML – Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
15. AOT – Aerosol Optical Thickness
16. ARL – Air Resources Laboratory
17. ARM – Atmospheric Radiation Measurement
18. AUV – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
19. AVHRR – Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
20. AWIPS – Advanced Weather Interactive Prediction System
21. BSRN – Baseline Surface Radiation Network
22. CASTNET – Clean Air Status and Trends Network
23. CCBay – Corpus Christi Bay
24. CCN – Cloud Condensation Nuclei
25. CGU – Canadian Geophysical Union
26. CISM – Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling
27. CLM – Common Land Model
28. CMM5 – Climate MM5 Model
29. CMP – Conference Mentorship Program
30. COAMPS – Coupled Ocean – Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System
31. CONFRRM – Cooperative Network for Renewable Resource Measurements
32. CPC – Climate Prediction Center
33. CPS – Cumulous Parameterization Schemes
34. CPU – Central Processing Unit
35. CREST – Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Centers
36. CTD – Conductivity/Temperature/Depth Instrument
37. CUNY – City University of New York
38. CVS – Concurrent Version Systems
39. CWRF – Climate WRF
40. DC – District of Columbia
41. DRI – Desert Research Institute
42. ECSU – Elizabeth City State University
43. EMC – Environmental Modeling Group
44. ENSO – El Nino/Southern Oscillation
45. EOC – Expanding Opportunities Conference
46. EOS – Earth Observing System
47. EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
48. EPIC – Equatorial Processes including the Coupling
49. EPP – Educational Partnership Program (NOAA)
50. EQB – Environmental Quality Board
51. ESA – European Space Agency
52. FAMU – Florida A & M University
53. FRRF – Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometry
54. FTE – Full time employee
55. GFDL – Geographical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
56. GIS – Geographic Information Systems
57. GLAS – Global Laser Altimeter S
58. GOCART – Georgia Tech/Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation Transport Model
59. GOES – Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
60. GoHFAS – Goddard Howard University Fellowship in Atmospheric Sciences
61. GFS – Global Forecasting System
62. GPCP – Global Precipitation Climatology Project
63. GPI – Global Precipitation Index
64. GSFC – Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)
65. GSM – Global Spectrum Model –
66. HBCU – Historically Black Colleges and Universities
67. HF – High Frequency
68. HU – Howard University
69. HUBRF – Howard University Beltsville Research Facility
70. HUPAS – Howard University Program in Atmospheric Sciences
71. HYSPLIT – Hybrid Single – Particle Lagrangian Integrated
72. ICCM – Canary Institute of Marine Sciences
73. ICodEM – Icod Environmental Model
74. IDAS – RAP – Diversity in Atmospheric Science through Research Application and Partnership
75. IDV – Integrated Data Viewer
76. IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
77. IEO – Spanish Institute of Oceanography
78. IGARSS – International Geosciences & Remote Sensing Symposium
79. IHOP – International H2O Project
80. INTEX – Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment
81. IOPs – Intensive Observational Periods
82. IR – Infrared
83. ISCS – International Solar Cycle Studies
84. ISWS – Illinois State Water Survey
85. JCSDA – Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation
86. JPL – NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
87. JSU – Jackson State University
88. LA – MS – Louisiana/Mississippi
89. LAPS – Local Analysis and Prediction System
90. LEAD – Linked Environment for Atmospheric Discovery
91. Lidar – Light detection and ranging
92. LSM – Land Surface Model
93. LPASF – Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics Siméon Fongang
94. LW – Longwave
95. LWS – Living With a Star
96. Met – Meteorological
97. MD – Maryland
98. MDE – Maryland Department of the Environment
99. MEA – Malt Extract Agar
100. MFRSR – Multi – Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer
101. MHD – Magneto Hydro Dynamics
102. MMCR – Millimeter Cloud Radar
103. MM5 – Mesoscale Model 5
104. MODIS – Moderate Imaging Spectrometer
105. MP – Micro Physics
106. MSI – Minority Serving Institution
107. MWR – Microwave Radiometer
108. NAAPS – Navy Automated Aerosol Prediction System
109. NAAQS – National Ambient Air Quality Standards
110. NAME – North America Monsoon Experiment
111. NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
112. NCAR – National Center for Atmospheric Research
113. NCAS – NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences
114. NCEP – National Center for Environmental Prediction
115. NCO – NOAA Computing Office
116. NCUR – National Center on Undergraduate Research
117. NDBC – National Data Buoy Center
118. NESDIS – National Environmental Satellite, Data & Information Service
119. NIS – Network Infrastructure & Administrations
120. NMM – Non – hydrostatic Mesoscale Model
121. NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
122. NOBCChE – National Organization of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers
123. NRCS – National Resources Conservation Service
124. NREL – National Renewable Energy Lab
125. NRL – Naval Research Laboratory
126. NSF – National Science Foundation
127. NWS – National Weather Service
128. OAR – Office of Atmospheric Research
129. OD – Optical Depth
130. OES – Oceanic Engineering Society
131. OGP – Office of Global Programs
132. OLR – Outgoing Longwave Radiation
133. ORA – Howard University Office of Research Administration
134. ORA – Office of Research & Applications (NESDIS)
135. ORAD – Office of Research Applications and Development
136. ORISE – Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Optical Depth
137. PASCoR – Partnership for Spatial and Computational Research
138. PBL – Planetary Boundary Layer
139. PCR – Polymerase Chain Reaction
140. PDAS – RAP – Promoting Diversity in Atmospheric Sciences through Research Applications Partnership
141. PI – Principal Investigator
142. PIERS – Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium
143. PM – Particulate Matter
144. PSM – Ponce School of Medicine (Puerto Rico)
145. PSU – Pennsylvania State University
146. QBO – Quasi – Biennial Oscillation
147. RAC – Research Advisory Council
148. RASS – Radio Acoustic Sounding System
149. RASS – Reference Ambient Air Sampler
150. RAMS – Regional Atmospheric Modeling System
151. RFC – River Forecast Center
152. RHB – Ronald H. Brown
153. RMS – Root Mean Square
154. RS – Remote Sensing
155. RSM – Regional Spectrum Model
156. RSMS – University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
157. RSS – Rotating Shadowband Spectrometer
158. SACNAS – Society of Associated Chicanos, Native Americans in Science
159. SAL – Saharan Aerosol Layer
160. SAQM – SARMAP Air Quality Model
161. SARMAP – SJVAQS/AUSPEX Regional Modeling Adaptation Project
162. SCEP – Student Career Experience Program
163. SeaWiFS – Sea – viewing Wide Field – of – View Sensor
164. SEC – Space Environment Center
165. SOARS – Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research & Science
166. SRL – Scanning Raman Lidar
167. SSM/I – Special Sensor Microwave Imager
168. SSRB – Solar Surface Radiation Branch
169. STC – Science and Technology Center
170. STP – M – Solar – Terrestrial Physics and Meteorology
171. SUW – Subtropical Underwater
172. SURFRAD – Surface Radiation Budget Network
173. SUNYA – State University of New York at Albany
174. SW – Shortwave
175. TDL – Techniques Development Laboratory –
176. TNRCC – Texas National Resource Conservation Commission
177. TRMM PR – Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Precipitation Radar
178. TX – Texas
179. UCAR – University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
180. UIUC – University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign
181. UMBC – University of Maryland Baltimore County
182. UMCP – University of Maryland College Park
183. UMES – University of Maryland Eastern Shore
184. UMET – Universidad Metropolitana de San Juan
185. UND – University of North Dakota
186. UPRH – University of Puerto Rico Humacao
187. UPRM – University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
188. URC – University Research Center
189. USA – United States of America
190. USDA SCAN – United States Department of Agriculture Soil Climate Analysis Network
191. UTEP – University of Texas at El Paso
192. UW/APL – University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory
193. Vis5d – Visualization of Large 5 – d Grided Data Sheets
194. VOC – Volatile Organic Carbon
195. WBTP – Weather Broadcast Training Program
196. WFO – Weather Forecast Office
197. WMO – World Meteorological Organization
198. WRF – Weather Research and Forecast
199. WTA – Western Tropical Atlantic
200. XBT – Expendable Bathythermographs