National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducts and supports scientific and engineering research in disciplines ranging from chemistry and physics to information technology, working collaboratively with colleagues in industry, academia, and government. Research tools developed at the agency, including measurement methods, standards, data and various technologies assist industrial, academic, and government scientists worldwide. Researchers in industry, universities and other government agencies work with the agency to solve technical problems, improve productivity or work on innovative new ideas. Partnerships with agency take many forms. NIST’s nationwide network of Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers helps smaller manufacturers in their local area, for example. Companies can become research partners through the Advanced Technology Program, a cooperative research and development agreement or by joining a research consortium. NIST funds industrial and academic research in a variety of ways. Advanced Technology Program co-funds high-risk, high-payoff projects with industry. The Small Business Innovation Research Program funds research and development proposals from small businesses. The agency also offers other grants to encourage work in specific fields, such as precision measurement, fire research, and materials science. Grants/awards supporting research at industry, academic, and other institutions are available on a competitive basis through several different NIST offices. NIST develops an extensive array of traceable reference materials, standard reference data, and calibrations, including many applicable to constituents of the atmosphere. While these programs are not specifically designed for carbon cycle research, in general, the measurements are crosscutting and have a wide range of applications from health care to the automotive industry to climate change.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is “to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the Nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs.” NOAA’s efforts to examine the long-term climate are designed to develop a predictive understanding of variability and change in the global climate system, and to advance the application of this information in climate-sensitive sectors through a suite of research, observations and modeling, and application and assessment activities. NOAA’s research program includes ongoing efforts in operational in situ and satellite observations with an emphasis on oceanic and atmospheric dynamics, circulation and chemistry and understanding and predicting ocean-land-atmosphere interactions, the global water cycle, atmospheric composition, and the role of global transfers of carbon dioxide among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in climate change. Programs also include improvements in climate modeling, prediction and information management capabilities, and the projection and assessment of variability across multiple time-scales; the study of the relationship between the natural climate system and society and the development of methodologies for applying climate information to problems of social and economic consequences.

NOAA’s Climate Program operates a peer-reviewed process for all sponsored research from NOAA or other government laboratories, universities, or private companies. Grants to institutions outside of NOAA are processed through the Grants Management Division; NOAA grants are funded through an internal process. An external panel of scientists reviews the NOAA Climate Program  and each program element has an advisory panel that helps management set priorities. In addition, the program relies on community planning and international programs that are relevant to improving climate forecasts for program direction and guidance.

The NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory operates aircraft and a set of 600 m communication towers that profile carbon dioxide, methane and carbon monoxide in North America. NOAA marine laboratories, the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, contribute to carbon cycle science through air-sea measurements of CO2 and ocean carbon inventories in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and with change of CO2 measurements from coastal moorings.

More information:
Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases Group - NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index - Carbon Tracker

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