Marine Meteorology and Space Weather

The Marine Meteorology and Space Weather program sponsors innovative Basic (6.1) and Applied (6.2) Research in the broad thrust areas of atmospheric prediction and processes, atmospheric effects, air-sea interaction, atmospheric boundary layer processes, satellite remote sensing, and ionospheric analysis and prediction. Emphasis is placed on basic research to improve the fundamental understanding of atmospheric processes, and applied research on the data, analysis and prediction systems for forecasting environmental parameters critical to Navy and Marine Corps operations in maritime and littoral regions. Additionally, Advanced Technology Development (6.3) projects supporting promising applied research from proof-of-concept through operational demonstration are periodically managed through this program. Planning letters should follow these guidelines and are welcome in any of these phases of scientific maturity and topic interest.

Research Concentration Areas

• Atmospheric prediction addresses topics in global, mesoscale and on-scene modeling and forecasting focused on the maritime atmosphere and coastal zone. Topics of interest include:
  • Enhancing the skill of current regional and global prediction systems through novel use of improved physics and numerics, machine learning, observations and data assimilation
  • Development of physical parameterizations suitable for near-real-time, high spatial and temporal resolution environmental prediction
  • Improving the understanding of processes in the marine atmosphere that will enable the next generation of coupled (land/ocean/ice/atmosphere and stratosphere/thermosphere) prediction systems
• Atmospheric processes focuses on detailed studies on phenomenology of meteorological features, including their changes, sub-seasonal variability, and impacts on the atmospheric system. Topics of interest include:
  • Tropical cyclone behavior and evolution, especially genesis, intensity (including rapid intensification) and structure issues in the Western Pacific
  • Improved global and mesoscale prediction and predictability in the Arctic
  • Improved prediction at synoptic to sub-seasonal timescales and improved decision support to Naval operations
• Atmospheric effects places emphasis on improving the modeling and prediction of environmental effects on electromagnetic and electro-optic propagation critical to Navy and Marine Corps platform, sensor, weapons and communications performance. Topics of interest include:
  • Marine boundary layer aerosols, turbulence and visibility
  • Aerosol-cloud-radiation interaction
  • Atmospheric electromagnetic refractivity, particularly near the surface
• Air-sea interaction and marine boundary layer processes is closely coordinated with the Physical Oceanography program, and it encompasses process studies and coupled-model development extending from the top of the atmospheric boundary layer to the bottom of the ocean mixed layer. Topics of interest include:
  • Marine boundary layer dynamics, especially in conditions that diverge from Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory constraints
  • Physics of energy exchange and diurnal refresh between ocean and atmosphere
  • Impact of turbulence and advective regimes on marine boundary layer structure
  • Cloud-topped boundary layer processes and microphysics
• Satellite remote sensing efforts broadly include topics that range the spectrum of end-to-end formulation, production, and analysis of satellite based environmental monitoring (SBEM) of the Earth system. interests include:
  • Development and transition of algorithms to better characterize atmospheric processes. Recent efforts include tropical cyclone diagnostics, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry, clouds and hydrometeors
  • Software engineering and product fusion/integration into a real-time, open source satellite data processing suite, such as the Naval Research Laboratory’s Geolocated Information Processing System (GeoIPS)
  • Demonstration, calibration and validation of new satellite data sources for Earth system observing, including optical, infrared, and passive/active microwave sensors
• Space Weather research interests include:
  • Improved observation, specification and numerical representation of the global ionosphere especially in terms of the Bottom-Side Ionosphere and in Equatorial and Arctic maritime regions with limited ground based observations
  • Studies of ionospheric irregularities which impact radio frequency propagation at all frequencies from VLF up to and including those used by GNSS

Research Challenges and Opportunities

While scientific quality is always the most important factor of the review process, an additional significant criterion is the priority of the research topic, which is based on a number of factors including the current and projected funding availability and thrust areas of the overall program. If we have funded or are currently funding a number of significant efforts in a particular research area, the addition of more work on that topic may be of lower priority than supporting new research efforts on a topic in which we have few funded projects.

In addition to the Research Concentration Areas described above, the following special focus areas are currently accepting planning letters:

Tropical Cyclone Rapid Intensification DRI, FY20-FY24

MAGPIE (Moisture and Aerosol Gradients/Physics of Inversion Evolution) DRI, FY22-FY26

SAFARI (Study of Air-sea Fluxes and Atmospheric River Intensity), FY24-FY28

OVERCAST (Novel methods to Resolve and Forecast clouds and atmospheric visibility)

FACEOFF (Fidelity Assessment of Forecasts)

SLATE (Systems Learning Applied to the Tactical Environment) TechCan, FY23-26

University Research Initiatives (URI)

New Investigator, HBCU/MSI/, Early Career, and Student Opportunities

For More Information

Please contact the Marine Meteorology team below to begin a dialog on potential interest in work in the areas of atmospheric science research. We encourage - but do not require - the submission of a planning letter (a brief description of your scientific idea and budget estimate) so that we can provide programmatic and technical feedback prior to writing a full proposal. This allows a discussion on topical relevance and some indication of the likely success of a full proposal based on program interests and priorities.

In addition to the "How to Submit: FedConnect instructions, please e-mail a copy of all planning letters to the entire program officer team listed below, following these guidelines, preferably by July 1st for the upcoming fiscal year which starts on October 1st.