DOE Selects 26 Research Projects for 2021 ASR Funding Awards

 
Published: 21 July 2021

$15.6 million awarded for atmospheric research to improve climate modeling

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science logo in front of cloudsThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a total of $15.6 million in funding awards for 27 scientists who will conduct 26 research projects through DOE’s Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program.

The university-based projects are designed to expand the fundamental understanding of earth systems and improve earth system models. Researchers will study the properties, formation, and interactions between atmospheric clouds and the aerosols that form them. According to the DOE announcement, these projects will help scientists better understand one of the most challenging aspects of earth system modeling and strengthen their ability to accurately predict weather and climate patterns.

“The Earth’s atmosphere holds the answers to how our planet is changing in the face of the climate crisis, as well as how we can predict and mitigate the effects,” says Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “By putting some of America’s most talented researchers on the case, coupled with DOE’s unparalleled scientific capabilities, we’ll gain a better understanding of how this crisis is unfolding—paving the way for solutions that leave a safer, healthier world for our children and grandchildren.”

ASR advances understanding of the atmospheric system in a holistic, comprehensive fashion that addresses a range of interrelated climatic processes, resulting in improved earth system models that can increase confidence in decision and policymaking. These studies will use atmospheric data gathered by DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility.

“We targeted our call to cover five research areas of interest to the Department of Energy and the ASR research community,” says ASR Program Manager Jeff Stehr. “Those targeted areas include aerosol-cloud interactions, aerosol processes, warm boundary-layer processes, deep convective processes from ARM’s CACTI (Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions) field campaign in north-central Argentina, and also from ARM’s recent high-latitude field campaigns.”

Researchers will study atmospheric processes in the Arctic using data from the Cold-Air Outbreaks in the Marine Boundary Layer Experiment (COMBLE) in Norway and the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) in the central Arctic.

“We want to thank everyone who took the time and did the hard work to submit proposals. We also want to thank the 58 members of our review panels for their time and thoughtful dedication.”

ASR Program Manager Jeff Stehr

In response to DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002391, the scientific community submitted 91 full proposals for 85 distinct projects. Review panels composed of university, federal, and DOE national laboratory scientists with expertise in observations, data analysis, and modeling of the atmospheric system provided input on the scientific merit of the proposals.

“With so many excellent proposals, it was difficult to select just 26 projects,” says Stehr. “We want to thank everyone who took the time and did the hard work to submit proposals. We also want to thank the 58 members of our review panels for their time and thoughtful dedication.”

The ASR FOA was sponsored by the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program within DOE’s Office of Science.

Once fiscal year 2021 funding awards are finalized, principal investigators, project titles, abstracts, and team members will be added to the ASR projects web page.

Following are the 26 recommended projects and 27 scientists selected for awards.

# # #


ARM is a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by nine DOE national laboratories.