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Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). OAR is also referred to as NOAA Research.

Agency overview

1841 (1841)

OAR's Vision is to deliver NOAA’s future.
OAR's Mission is to conduct research to understand and predict the Earth’s oceans, weather and climate, to advance NOAA science, service and stewardship and transition the results so they are useful to society.

  • Craig McLean, Assistant Administrator
  • Ko Barrett, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Programs and Administration
  • Dr. Gary Matlock, Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes

NOAA Research is the research and development arm of NOAA and is the driving force behind NOAA environmental products and services aimed at protecting life and property and promoting sustainable economic growth. Research, conducted by programs within NOAA and through collaborations outside NOAA, focuses on enhancing the understanding of environmental phenomena such as tornadoes, hurricanes, climate variability, changes in the ozone layer, El Niño/La Niña events, fisheries productivity, ocean currents, deep sea thermal vents, and coastal ecosystem health.


The origins of NOAA Research date to the creation of the Survey of the Coast (renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878) by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 and to the creation in 1841 of the United States Lake Survey. The Coast Survey was created to conduct hydrographic surveys of the coastline of the United States, while the Lake Survey was created to undertake "a hydrographic survey of northwestern lakes," i.e, the Great Lakes. Research executed by the scientists of the Lake Survey was innovative and holistic: the first current meters were developed to understand water flow rates, and forecasting techniques were greatly enhanced to predict water levels and the relationship to lakefront property.


The science and technology that NOAA Research produces is not only relevant to society, it anticipates and responds to partners’ needs to demonstrates the value of technologies so that partners can deploy them into their applications. OAR works with end-users to integrate mature technologies (and associated expertise) into larger systems, either in NOAA operations or partner applications, via testbeds, patents, etc.

Organization[edit]

NOAA Research is an open research network consisting of seven federal research laboratories, six program offices, sixteen Cooperative Institutes (which are non-federal, non-profit research institutions in 5-10 year collaborative partnerships with NOAA), and 33 university based Sea Grant programs. OAR also relies on work performed at numerous public, private, and academic institutions.


Weather Program Office includes the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, created by Congress in 2018 to improve collaboration with academia and private companies.

Continue to conduct to understand natural processes (physical, geochemical, ecological)

experiments

Build predictive models for use in , climate, solar, ocean, and coastal assessments and predictions.

weather

Develop and deploy new observing technologies to provide data to support predictive models and to document natural variability.

Develop new analytical and forecast tools to improve weather services and earlier warnings for .

natural disasters

Use new to share information with other federal and academic scientists.

information technology

Prepare scientific assessments and information products to enhance and guide governmental action.

public education

Provide comprehensive knowledge to guide national environmental policy decisions, including better predictions of the climate response to emissions changes, choices for protection of the ozone layer, and alternatives for developing coastal communities

Improve environmental services to the nation, including reliable predictions and assessments

Promote economic growth through science for decision-making, new technology, and partnerships with academia and industry

NOAA research is intended to:

(AOML) - Miami, FL

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

(ARL) - Silver Spring, MD

Air Resources Laboratory

(ESRL) - Boulder, CO

Earth System Research Laboratories

(GFDL) - Princeton, NJ

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

(GLERL) - Ann Arbor, MI

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

(NSSL) - Norman, OK

National Severe Storms Laboratory

(PMEL) - Seattle, WA and Newport, OR

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

The laboratories that are part of NOAA Research are located throughout the United States near their areas of focus. These include:


The NOAA Research Laboratories conduct an integrated program of research, technology development, and services to improve the understanding of Earth's atmosphere, oceans and inland waters, and to describe and predict changes occurring to them. The laboratories and their field stations are located across the country and around the world.


The laboratories have established formal collaborative agreements with universities/non-profit research institutions to form joint research institutes pertaining to the Earth's oceans, inland waters, intermountain west, atmosphere, and arctic environment.


Scientific reviews are conducted every five years to evaluate the quality, relevance, and performance of research conducted at the OAR laboratories. These reviews help to strategically position laboratories in their planning of future science and are intended to ensure that OAR laboratory research is linked to the NOAA Next Generation Strategic Plan, remains relevant to the NOAA research mission and its priorities, and is consistent with NOAA planning, programming, and budgeting processes.

(CICS-P) - Princeton, NJ

Cooperative Institute for Climate Science

(CICS-M) - College Park, MD

Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

(CIFAR) - Fairbanks, AK

Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research

(CILER) - Ann Arbor, MI

Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research

(CIMAS) - Miami, FL

Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies

(CIMEC) - La Jolla, CA

Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystems and Climate

(CIWRO) - Norman, OK

Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations

(CIMRS) - Newport, OR

Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies

(CIMSS) - Madison, WI

Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies

(CINAR) - Woods Hole, MA

Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region

(CIOERT) - Fort Pierce, FL

Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology

(CIRA) - Fort Collins, CO

Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

(CIRES) - Boulder, CO

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

(CIPIR[2]/JIMAR) - Honolulu, HI

Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research

(JISAO) - Seattle, Washington

Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean

(NGI) - Stennis Space Center, MS

Northern Gulf Institute

NOAA Research partners with research-oriented universities and institutions to share data and resources to advance the goals of NOAA.

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOAA Cooperative Research Institutes