NOAA’s Weather Prediction Office Awards CPAESS Scientist

Baoqiang (Bao) Xiang, CPAESS Project Scientist III supporting NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) was recently awarded funding for his proposed research project "Transitioning NMME-based seasonal predictions of atmospheric river activity into an operational forecast product." This award was in response to NOAA Weather Program Office’s (WPO) competition for proposals concerning “weather, atmospheric composition, and earth system modeling and observations research reflecting multiple science objectives spanning time scales from hours to seasons, and from weather and water observations and earth system modeling to fire weather and social, behavioral, and economic science (NOAA).” Climate Testbed was one the six categories one could apply for funding, and the one in which Bao won funding. WPO sought to ensure that projects focused on research that could be transitioned to outputs and products that could be transitioned to practical applications and operations from the funded research. 

In summarizing this research, Bao explained “Atmospheric rivers, narrow corridors of intense moisture transport and heavy precipitation, provide both significant benefits and destructive losses to the western U.S., as they contribute substantially to the western U.S. water supply but also cause damaging floods. Therefore, a seasonal outlook for AR activity would benefit a wide range of stakeholders, and a new project led by Baoqiang Xiang and co-PIs (Drs. Nathaniel Johnson, Daniel Harnos and Laura Ciasto) is aiming to develop seasonal atmospheric river forecast guidance that would be the first such product to inform NOAA’s operational seasonal forecasts. This project, which is a collaboration between NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) and Climate Prediction Center, builds upon recent seasonal prediction model developments at GFDL and a new study that demonstrates the ability of the GFDL model to skillfully predict atmospheric river activity over the western U.S. up to 9 months in advance. This project has the potential to benefit many stakeholders, including western water resource managers, by informing them of the likelihood of weak or active atmospheric river activity at critical times for decision making.”

A sincere congratulations to you and your team, Bao. CPAESS is delighted that you were able to win funding for this new research project.