Climate and Societal Interactions

in ecosystems, communities, and economies. The overall objectives of the CSI portfolio are the following: 1. Support innovative, applicable, and transferable approaches for decision making, especially for risk characterization in the context of a variable and changing climate; 2. Establishment of a network of regionally scoped, long-term efforts to inform climate risk management and decision making; and 3. Promotion of the transfer of climate knowledge, tools, products, and services within NOAA, across the federal government, nationally, and internationally. These objectives are pursued through four complementary, interdisciplinary research programs: the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) Program; the International Research and Applications Project (IRAP); the Sectoral Applications Research Program (SARP); and the Coastal and Ocean Climate Applications program (COCA). RISA supports research teams that conduct innovative, interdisciplinary, user-inspired, and regionally relevant research that informs resource management, planning, and public policy. IRAP supports activities to link science and assessments to practical risk management challenges in regions where weather and climate affect U.S. interests at home and abroad. COCA supports interdisciplinary applications research on the impacts of climate variability and change on coastal communities and coastal and marine ecosystems to inform decision making. SARP addresses the needs of a specific stakeholder or set of stakeholders within key socioeconomic sectors (e.g., water resources, agriculture, health, etc.) grappling with pressing climate-related issues. The FY18 SARP competitions was published in the CPO FFO in May 2017. CSI is an active partner in NOAA’s efforts to enhance and support services. This partnership brings together NOAA Regional Climate Services Directors (RCSDs), other NOAA service line offices, and close external partners such as RISA teams, Regional Climate Centers, State Climatologists, Sea Grant and other U.S. Government agencies to help make weather and climate information and products relevant, accessible and actionable to people across the U.S. CSI activities address the societal challenges identified in NOAA’s Next-Generation Strategic Plan (NGSP): i) climate impacts on water resources; ii) coasts and climate resilience; iii) sustainability of marine ecosystems; and iv) changes in the extremes of weather and climate. CSI programs support NOAA’s vision to create and sustain enhanced resilience in ecosystems, communities, and economies, as outlined in the NGSP. Three (3) CSI programs are holding a competition under this Federal Funding Opportunity: RISA, COCA, and IRAP. RISA - South Central Region COCA & RISA Pilot on Coastal Climate Extension Competition IRAP: Decision Support Research on Climate-Sensitive Health Risks