Download:
pdf |
pdfBUILDING A
CLIMATE
READY
NATION
NOA A F Y 2 2-26 S TR ATE G I C PL A N
MESSAGE FROM THE NOAA ADMINISTRATOR
Each day every American is touched by some aspect of NOAA’s mission.
The breadth and depth of our work is awe inspiring, and it is my privilege to serve
as NOAA Administrator. In my third tour of duty at NOAA, I am honored to lead the agency
in pursuing three overarching priorities:
1. Building a Climate Ready Nation by establishing NOAA as the primary federal
authoritative provider of climate information and services in the whole-of-government
response to tackling the climate crisis
2. Integrating equity into our core operations
3. Promoting economic development while maintaining environmental stewardship
with a focus on advancing the New Blue Economy.
Underpinning all of the agency’s achievements and day-to-day work is a commitment to
scientific integrity by promoting a continuing culture of excellence and decision-making based
on sound, transparent and reliable scientific activities. I am also committed to broadening the
dialogue with existing and new partners — including federal, state, local, tribal, commercial,
academic, international and philanthropic — to develop more effective and sustained approaches
to meeting the growing demand for NOAA data, services and products from virtually every industry
sector and governmental agency.
Finally, to maintain and grow our status as a preeminent science agency and global leader, NOAA must attract
and retain a highly talented, innovative and diverse workforce dedicated to public service and the highest level of
excellence and teamwork in achieving our mission. As an integral part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, I’m
pleased that NOAA’s mission is woven throughout its strategic plan, highlighting the central role NOAA plays in
promoting a sustainable, inclusive and growing economy. I trust you will find in reading this plan that NOAA provides
tremendous value for the public in moving the needle to solve difficult problems that provide significant societal,
public safety and economic benefits that touch the lives of all Americans.
Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D.
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere & NOAA Administrator
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Introduction: NOAA’s Mission, Vision
and Key Operating Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Strategic Goals Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
STRATEGIC GOAL 1:
Build a Climate Ready Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
STRATEGIC GOAL 2:
Make Equity Central to NOAA’s Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
STRATEGIC GOAL 3:
Accelerate Growth in an
Information-Based Blue Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
NOAA’s Operational Excellence
and Mission Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Front cover: A placid view in Tutka Bay, Alaska
This page: Grey reef sharks and colorful schools of
anthias in the waters of Jarvis Island, Pacific Remote
Island Areas Marine National Monument
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3
Beautiful space view of
the Earth with cloud formation
NOAA’S MISSION, VISION &
OPERATING PRINCIPLES
From the depths of the ocean
to the surface of the sun,
NOAA is observing, measuring, monitoring, collecting
and analyzing environmental data. NOAA translates
those publicly available data into Earth system
models and information as well as tools,
predictions and projections for public use. The
term “Earth system” refers to all of the Earth’s
interacting physical, chemical and biological
processes and is inclusive of land, ocean and
atmosphere. NOAA’s trusted data are the
basis for the daily weather and air-quality
forecasts accessed on smartphones
with a press of a button, they feed
into models that predict the
movement of wildfire smoke
in real-time and they identify
impacts of climate change on
fisheries and living marine
resources to improve management.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4
NOAA’s vision is one in which
people, the economy and
ecosystems are thriving,
supported by NOAA’s
equitable and actionable
weather, water and
climate services.
While its dynamic and important mission and
vision are vital for the future, the operating
principles underlying that mission
are foundational to NOAA’s success.
Science. Service. Stewardship.
Bald eagle perched on a rock
on the Cook Inlet, Alaska
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5
MISSION
NOAA’s mission of science, service and stewardship are the three pillars supporting
the agency’s leadership in understanding and predicting changes in climate, weather,
oceans and coasts — and getting actionable environmental information in the hands
of decision makers.
SCIENCE
SERVICE
STEWARDSHIP
As the first pillar, science provides the critical
The second pillar of the agency’s mission
The third pillar of our mission is stewardship.
foundation and future promise of the service
is service, and NOAA is expanding upon its
Stewardship means that NOAA conserves lands,
and stewardship elements of NOAA’s mission
authoritative ocean, coastal, climate and weather
waters and natural resources to protect people
to better understand and predict changes in
products and services to meet a diverse range
and the environment now and for generations
climate, weather, ocean and coasts. It is essential
of community, business and federal partner
to come. NOAA takes seriously its responsibility
therefore that NOAA’s data and information
needs. NOAA plays a unique role in not only
to promote economic development without
adhere to the principles of scientific integrity in
collecting data and conducting research, but also,
sacrificing environmental stewardship. Through
order to maintain its trusted status whether in
by mandate, making its leading-edge research
sound stewardship, NOAA will create jobs
issuing lifesaving weather forecasts and warnings
operational and accessible. This ensures the
and opportunities for sustainable economic
or managing marine fisheries. NOAA will promote
public and federal, state, tribal and private-
growth and innovation. NOAA will advance the
a continued robust culture of scientific excellence
sector partners have actionable environmental
knowledge-based ocean economy, looking to
and integrity — and ensure that management and
information to make decisions in the wake of
the ocean for data, information and knowledge
policy decisions are based on sound, transparent
a changing climate. Building toward a Climate
that can be applied to innovative and sustainable
and reliable science. Recognizing that science
Ready Nation will mean that partners trust they
business development, products and services
is not only done by or in service of a select few,
can turn to NOAA to communicate their needs
that support new and established ocean-
NOAA’s commitment to science will mirror its
and have them translated into more reliable,
based sectors. This New Blue Economy offers
commitment to an equitable, diverse and inclusive
accurate, accessible, relevant and easy-to-use
opportunities for sustainable, climate-smart
workforce.
climate information for planning, adaptation and
innovation and economic growth based on sound
resilience decisions and actions.
science and environmental stewardship.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6
KEY OPERATING
PRINCIPLES
As NOAA implements its vision and
executes its mission, the agency
is guided by several operating
principles. These guideposts are
designed to help ensure it makes
well-informed decisions that always
keep its partners, stakeholders and
end users top of mind.
The earth is a holistic system. NOAA’s approach to problem solving
should be equally holistic.
Policy, science and operations are equal partners, especially as
NOAA balances its mission of Science, Service and Stewardship.
Clear and well validated requirements should drive the agency’s
priorities, which must include input from its partners, stakeholders
and customers.
Equity is central to how the agency develops and delivers products
and services, and how it builds a workforce.
Sustained successful partnerships are crucial and NOAA should
continually identify and develop new ones.
Honest, objective, highly quantitative assessments are critically
important to improvement.
NOAA encourages a balance of tolerance for risk in what it
undertakes, when framed around potential improvement.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 7
NOA A F Y 2 2-26 S TR ATE G I C GOA L S S U M M A RY
While NOAA’s Strategic Plan is focused on the three goals outlined on the following page, it is also
aligned with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 2022–2026 Strategic Plan published in March 2022,
especially its focus on ensuring NOAA’s world-class science, observations and forecasts help the
U.S. lead the world toward a clean-energy future that will create millions of good-paying jobs.
It is also informed and influenced by important legislative and policy prescriptions and aligns
with a variety of sub-NOAA strategic plans and frameworks of which there is a partial list in the
References. For example, NOAA has been directed to develop a strategic plan for space commerce
and is implementing the objective in the Department of Commerce’s plan to advance U.S.
leadership in the global commercial space industry.
Humpback whales observed at the
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale
National Marine Sanctuary
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 8
NOA A F Y 2 2-26 S TR ATE G I C GOA L S S U M M A RY
01
BUILD A CLIMATE READY NATION
Through upgraded climate information, improved weather forecasts and enhanced
infrastructure, NOAA will build a Climate Ready Nation, resilient and prepared for
future climate change. NOAA will address mitigation efforts and ensure safety and
preparedness for all Americans.
02
03
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
MAKE EQUITY CENTRAL TO NOAA’S MISSION
NOAA will strive to ensure the needs of America’s underserved
and vulnerable populations are met through delivery of services,
education and training to prepare all communities for increasing
extreme weather and climate hazards. Not only will NOAA focus
on partnerships that will increase its reach to underserved and
vulnerable communities, it will also implement practices within the
agency to ensure equal opportunities and treatment of employees.
ACCELERATE GROWTH IN AN
INFORMATION-BASED BLUE ECONOMY
Utilizing its deep understanding of ocean and coastal environments, NOAA will
provide data, information and services to catalyze American competitiveness,
accelerate growth of sustainable ocean industries and facilitate the technology
advancements for coastal and marine solutions to climate challenges. To develop
a robust blue economy, NOAA will continue to support a thriving ocean enterprise
that adds sustainable economic opportunities while providing valuable climate,
weather and ocean services and solutions.
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 9
NOA A F Y 2 2-26 S TR ATE G I C GOA L S S U M M A RY
01
BUILD A CLIMATE
READY NATION
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.1: Enhance Service
Delivery to Partners
02
MAKE EQUITY CENTRAL
TO NOAA’S MISSION
2.1.1: Advance EEO to Strengthen Accountability
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.1: Improve
Ocean-Related Data and Data Access
1.1.1: Improve Continuous Engagement with Partners
2.1.2: Deepen Workforce Equity and Belonging
3.1.1: Promote the Development of the Ocean Enterprise
1.1.2: Embed Climate Considerations across NOAA
2.1.3: Diversify NOAA STEM Fields and Enhance Partnership
with Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs)
3.1.2: Innovate Approaches for Data Collection and Forecasting
1.1.3: Provide Science-Based Use-Inspired Decision Support Tools
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.2: Improve
Environmental Predictions and Projections
2.1.4: Integrate Equity into Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment
(SASH) Prevention and Response Efforts
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.2: Strengthen
Established Sectors of the Blue Economy
1.2.1: Improve Weather, Water and Climate Predictions
and Projections
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.2: Support
Underserved and Vulnerable Communities
3.2.1: Improve Adaptive Fisheries Management
1.2.2: Build Out Subseasonal to Annual Integrated
Water Capabilities
2.2.1: Launch National Integrated Community Pilot Projects
1.2.3: Strengthen Coastal Integrated Water Capabilities
1.2.4: Enhance Monitoring and Modeling for Mitigation
and Adaptation Strategies
1.2.5: Build Out an Integrated Climate and Ocean
Modeling System
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.1: Build a Model Workplace
03
ACCELERATE GROWTH IN
AN INFORMATION-BASED
BLUE ECONOMY
2.2.2: Remove Administrative Burdens
3.2.2: Expand Sustainable Marine Tourism and Recreation
Opportunities
3.2.3: Support Sustainable Development of Offshore
Renewable Energy
2.2.3: Design Easy-to-Use Tools and Services
2.2.4: Develop New Community Engagement Approaches
2.2.5: Strengthen Social Science and Evaluation Capacity
1.2.6: Enhance Ecological Forecasting of NOAA Trust Resources
3.1.3: Increase Stakeholder Engagement
3.2.4: Advance NOAA’s Contribution to a Safe and
Efficient Marine Transportation System
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.3: Improve Resilience
of Coastal Communities and Economies
3.3.1: Advance Forecast Effects of Sea-Level Rise and
Coastal Inundation
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.3: Advance
Integrated Breakthrough Climate Research
3.3.2: Reduce Risk from Coastal and Environmental Hazards
1.3.1: Mature World-Class Next-Generation Earth System Models
3.3.3: Support Responsible Coastal Development
and Management
1.3.2: Strengthen Capacity for Social Science Research
1.3.3: Advance Cutting-Edge Integrated Research to Operations
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.4: Protect and
Restore Marine Life and Ocean, Coastal
and Great Lakes Ecosystems
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.4: Bolster Authoritative Data
and Information Stewardship
1.4.1: Improve Data Stewardship
3.4.1: Recover and Conserve Protected Species
1.4.2: Optimize Platform-Agnostic Data and Information
3.4.2: Protect, Conserve and Restore Coastal, Ocean
and Great Lakes Lands, Waters and Resources
1.4.3: Improve Enterprise-Level Data Management
3.4.3: Advance Science for Stewardship and Conservation
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.5: Enhance Comprehensive
Observations and Monitoring Systems
1.5.1: Improve Local/In-Situ Distributed Observations
1.5.2: Innovate Space-based Observations
1.5.3: Expand Commercial Partnerships and New Technology
1.5.4: Improve Common Source Data Integration and Common
Ground Services
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 1 0
N OA A S TR ATE G I C GOA L 0 1
BUILD A CLIMATE
READY NATION
As a world leader in climate science and services, NOAA provides
actionable environmental information that is the basis for smart policy
and decision-making in a changing world. NOAA is uniquely positioned
to support the whole-of government effort to address the climate
crisis, strengthen resilience and promote economic growth. Together
with its partners, NOAA will build a Climate Ready Nation whose
prosperity, health, security and continued growth benefit from
and depend upon a shared understanding of — and collective
action to reduce — the impacts of climate change.
01
A firefighter walks in a field
away from a wall of fire.
NOAA will deploy the full breadth of its integrated services
and capabilities to build a Climate Ready Nation. The
climate goal is organized into five objectives according
to NOAA’s value chain which makes the agency unique.
This end-to-end value chain for authoritative climate
and weather data and services starts with investing
in observational infrastructure and culminates in
delivering comprehensive services to meet a diverse
set of missions. NOAA’s partners — including
businesses, federal agencies, emergency
managers and underserved and vulnerable
communities — can gain insights and take
decisive action based on NOAA’s data, tools
and services.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 11
01
CLIMATE VALUE CHAIN
Building a Framework for a Climate Ready Nation
NOAA’s climate value chain, around which Goal 1 objectives are organized, illustrates the five key
activities necessary to successfully deliver critical services to the agency’s customers and partners.
1
2
3
4
5
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
S E RV I C E D E L I V E RY & D E C I S I O N S U P P O R T T O O L S
Comprehensive service delivery and decision support tools are necessary
to build a Climate Ready Nation to meet the needs of businesses, federal
partners and communities most vulnerable to climate and weather hazards.
M O D E L I N G , P R E D I C T I O N & P RO J E C T I O N
With state-of-the-science modeling, prediction and
projection capabilities, NOAA leverages high-performance
computing and the use of artificial intelligence.
R E S E A RC H & D E V E LO P M E N T
6,000 NOAA scientists and engineers develop cutting-edge
applied research and applications to address pressing climate
and weather challenges.
DATA & I N F O R M AT I O N S T E WA R D S H I P
NOAA’s world-class data and information stewardship is leveraging
cloud infrastructure and working to store and to provide to the public
more user friendly and authoritative data sets.
O B S E RVAT I O N A L I N F R A S T RU C T U R E
From the ocean floor to on orbit, NOAA’s robust next-generation
observational infrastructure and data dissemination observes
and collects data 24/7.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 12
01CLIMATE
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1.1
ENHANCE SERVICE DELIVERY TO PARTNERS
NOAA will increase the accessibility and relevance of existing and new
decision support products through more robust partnerships and
stakeholder engagement. Combining the agency’s deep expertise with
partner relationships enables NOAA to deliver integrated and relevant
services to inform stakeholder decisions at every level for emergency
management, transportation, power generation, agriculture, coastal
planning, natural resource management, recreation and more. NOAA will
develop new, and improve upon existing, services to get them in the hands
of decision-makers to support climate and weather resilience — especially
to combat extreme events, such as floods, fire, drought, extreme heat and
coastal inundation, that have a disproportionate impact on underserved
and vulnerable communities and do significant economic damage in the U.S.
NOAA will also take action to confront the climate crisis in the Arctic as the
impacts of human-caused climate change are propelling the Arctic region
into a dramatically different state than it was just a few decades ago. Given
that climate change is a global challenge, NOAA will also contribute to climate
readiness internationally by improving early disaster warnings around
the world, sharing knowledge about climate-proofing infrastructure and
promoting lessons learned from its successful climate adaptation programs.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
I M P R OV E C O N T I N U O U S
E N G AG E M E N T W I T H PA R T N E R S
E M B E D C L I M AT E C O N S I D E R AT I O N S
AC R O S S N OA A
P R OV I D E S C I E N C E - B A S E D U S E - I N S P I R E D
DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 13
01CLIMATE
1.1.1 IMPROVE CONTINUOUS
ENGAGEMENT WITH PARTNERS
1.1.2 EMBED CLIMATE
CONSIDERATIONS ACROSS NOAA
1.1.3 PROVIDE SCIENCE-BASED USEINSPIRED DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS
NOAA will build toward a Climate Ready Nation by
NOAA will adapt its own programs and functions
NOAA will work with its academic, international,
expanding its work with existing and new partners
to account for climate impacts. This includes
U.S. governmental, commercial, nonprofit and
to equitably meet the needs of communities and
surveying and assessing living marine resources
community partners to transform the “bits and
businesses facing hazardous weather events
and modeling and forecasting the effects of
bytes” it receives from around the world into
and long-term climate impacts. NOAA will create
changing ocean conditions on those resources,
timely, actionable and reliable environmental
more tailored and user-friendly climate tools
fisheries and fishing communities. NOAA will
information across the entire Earth-observing
by leveraging regional climate assessments,
develop and implement adaptation strategies for
system. Through these engagements, NOAA will
integrating research across natural, physical
stewardship of the nation’s marine and coastal
help develop the next generation of science-
and social systems, and evaluating its climate
resources, identify future data and information
based products and services, focusing on meeting
resilience solutions. NOAA will collaborate with
needs for NOAA’s mission resulting from climate
current and future user needs in a changing
partners to develop new decision support tools,
trends and assess and address the climate-
climate. NOAA will develop, support or adapt
leveraging existing networks and tools where
related vulnerabilities of its own facilities and
state-of-the-art algorithms to support more
possible, to create accessible solutions that work
infrastructure.
accurate and reliable products and applications
across multiple platforms. NOAA will implement a
and leverage the latest data science to extract
community-based approach to service, education,
accessible and usable information from large,
engagement and preparedness. NOAA will also
complex data collections.
focus on expanding partnerships with community
groups and organizations with a significant impact
D I D YO U K N O W ?
to reach underserved and vulnerable communities.
T H E N AT I O N A L W E AT H E R S E R V I C E H A S P L AY E D A K E Y
ROLE IN PROTEC TING AMERICAN LIVES AND PROPERTIES
F O R OV E R A C E N T U RY.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 14
01CLIMATE
OU TCO M E S
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1.1
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Enhance Service Delivery
to Partners objective will include:
■ NOAA climate tools and services are
better adapted to the unique and
changing needs of communities and
businesses, especially those most
vulnerable to weather, water and
climate hazards.
■ NOAA is able to quickly mobilize its
network of partners to communicate
critical safety, preparedness
and forecasting information to
communities vulnerable to weather,
water and climate hazards.
■ NOAA’s climate information, tools
and services are effective and easy
to use by the communities and
businesses who need them.
■ NOAA is prepared for, and resilient
to, climate impacts in order to carry
out its mission of science, service and
stewardship now and in the future.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ Stakeholders have access to climate
data necessary to generate living
marine resource assessments and
biological opinions for managing and
conserving trust resources.
■ NOAA provides data-driven and
use-inspired decision support
services that set the standard for
transparency and quality.
■ More climate smart communities are
identified and enabled for resilience
planning, including in coastal areas.
■ NOAA delivers early warnings on
wildfire risk and engages with local,
state and tribal partners to improve
community preparation for, and
resilience to, fire hazards.
■ Resilience to extreme heat is
improved through community
collaboration, including with
underserved and vulnerable
communities, in producing more
tailored heat-related services.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 1 5
01CLIMATE
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
I M P R OV E W E AT H E R , WAT E R A N D C L I M AT E
PREDIC TIONS AND PROJEC TIONS
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 2
IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL
PREDICTIONS AND PROJECTIONS
NOAA will advance its weather, water and climate
predictions by decreasing sub-seasonal forecast
timescales and strengthening longer timescale baseline
climate studies, including improving our understanding
of climate variability and climate extremes. This will be
achieved through improved modeling of land, ocean
and ice ecosystems, atmosphere-land-ice interactions
as well as coupled data assimilation of land, ocean, ice,
biogeochemistry and ecosystems. NOAA will develop and
operate next-generation Earth system models using stateof-the-science and community approaches in concert with
advances in high-performance computing.
B U I L D O U T S U B S E A S O N A L T O A N N UA L
I N T E G R AT E D WAT E R C A PA B I L I T I E S
S T R E N G T H E N C OA S TA L I N T E G R AT E D WAT E R C A PA B I L I T I E S
ENHANCE MONITORING AND MODELING FOR
M I T I G AT I O N A N D A DA P TAT I O N S T R AT E G I E S
B U I L D O U T A N I N T E G R AT E D C L I M AT E
AND OCEAN MODELING S YSTEM
ENHANCE ECOLOGICAL FORECA S TING
O N N OA A T R U S T R E S O U R C E S
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 1 6
01CLIMATE
1.2.1 IMPROVE WEATHER, WATER
AND CLIMATE PREDICTIONS AND
PROJECTIONS
1.2.2 BUILD OUT SUBSEASONAL
TO ANNUAL INTEGRATED WATER
CAPABILITIES
1.2.3 STRENGTHEN COASTAL
INTEGRATED WATER CAPABILITIES
To help communities and businesses prepare for
NOAA will enhance predictions of water availability
hazardous coastal inundation caused by
compounding risks from extreme weather, water
to inform policy, planning and decision-making to
phenomena ranging from hurricanes to
and climate events, NOAA will improve its weather
help protect lives and property, inform flood risk
increased frequency of high-tide flooding due
forecasts and climate projections. These advances
management, enable the delivery of safe drinking
to sea-level rise. Improved prediction capability
will include more scalable and tailored information
water and inform reservoir operations and
will be accomplished by coupling advanced
related to drought, air pollution, extreme heat
water resource management. This will be done
hydrologic models to coastal and Great Lakes
and cold, fire weather, flooding, atmospheric
through a combination of hydrologic process
circulation models built into a framework that
rivers, tornadoes, winter storms, marine heat
modeling at subseasonal to seasonal and longer
takes into account observed and predicted
waves and marine tropical and extratropical
timescales, assimilation of observations, improved
changes in land elevation.
cyclones. A key aspect of this strategy will be to
atmospheric forcings for hydrologic prediction
execute successfully on projects funded through
and machine learning to enhance hydrologic
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and
forecasting. Subseasonal-to-seasonal timescales
to implement the goals of the Weather Research
refer to the bridge between NOAA’s daily and
and Forecasting Innovation Act and the National
seasonal forecasts to help move toward a more
Integrated Drought Information System Act.
seamless weather-climate prediction system and
The nation requires better predictions of
more integrated service offerings that benefit a
number of industry sectors and the public.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 17
01CLIMATE
1.2.4 ENHANCE MONITORING AND
MODELING FOR MITIGATION AND
ADAPTATION STRATEGIES
1.2.5 BUILD OUT AN INTEGRATED
CLIMATE AND OCEAN MODELING
SYSTEM
1.2.6 ENHANCE ECOLOGICAL
FORECASTING OF NOAA TRUST
RESOURCES
NOAA will inform climate mitigation choices
Climate change is significantly impacting oceans,
NOAA has a history of issuing ecological
through improved greenhouse gas and climate
the nation’s marine resources and the people,
forecasts to support those with the responsibility
system monitoring and modeling. The agency will
businesses, communities and economies that
of managing human use of U.S. coastal, marine
enhance observations and modeling capabilities
depend on them. To effectively prepare and
and Great Lakes resources. Understanding how
to assess the climate, atmospheric and oceanic
respond as part of the NOAA Climate and
ecological communities will adjust due to climate-
implications of both current and proposed
Fisheries Initiative, NOAA will integrate climate
associated impacts — and how human interaction
mitigation and climate intervention options
and ocean modeling systems to ensure improved
with those resources will change as a result —
including renewable energy, coastal and oceanic
predictions and projections of ocean conditions to
are both necessary to effectively manage living
carbon removal and solar radiation management.
inform decisions regarding living marine resources
resources for current and future generations.
and other ocean uses.
NOAA will enhance its ecological forecasting
capabilities to provide improved information on
the range and magnitude of such changes.
D I D YO U K N O W ?
9 5 % O F T H E DATA U S E D T O
F O R E C A S T W E AT H E R C O M E S
F R O M S AT E L L I T E S .
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 1 8
01CLIMATE
Mexico Beach, Florida in the
aftermath of Hurricane Michael
DEVELOPING CLIMATEREADY INFRASTRUCTURE
PA R T NER S P OTLI G HT
NOAA Partners with
Engineering Powerhouses
INTRO
When we think of climate change, we are confronted
by vast challenges as a result of rising temperatures,
sea levels and extreme weather events. These changes
have devastating consequences for animal species,
the natural environment, public health and our built
environment — comprised of the homes, stores and
office buildings — which make lasting impacts on our
communities and daily life.
It’s crucially important to American lives — and
livelihoods — to ensure building and infrastructure safety
can stand the test of time, and that means the test of
time under a changing climate. As current infrastructure
ages, or when new infrastructure is built, we cannot
assume that what was built in the past will continue to
function in the face of a rapidly-changing climate.
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 1 9
01CLIMATE
D E V E L O P I N G C L I M AT E - R E A DY I N F R A S T R U C T U R E (c o n t .)
We must take a new and flexible approach to
infrastructure for the nation and globally,”
our built environment and consider how all
said Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., NOAA administrator.
the important aspects of weather and climate
for infrastructure design and safety —
temperature, winds, precipitation, storm
surge, permafrost stability — will change over
the intended lifetimes of our infrastructure
from a few years to several decades.
With an eye towards supporting the
development of climate-ready infrastructure,
in late 2021 NOAA forged a partnership
“Our goal is to bring climate
information into the nation’s standardsetting process to increase the pace of
climate adaptation and reduce design,
construction and maintenance costs
as well as the costs of climate-related
natural disasters,” said Dr. Spinrad.
The collaboration will advance the use
with the University of Maryland Center for
As the nation’s largest provider of climate
Technology and Systems Management and
information, NOAA’s dynamic partnership
the American Society of Civil Engineers, the
with ASCE and the Center for Technology and
world’s largest civil engineering professional
Systems Management was established to
society, to accelerate the development
help the U.S. account for climate change in
of climate-smart engineering codes and
future infrastructure design and construction.
standards.
The vast majority of building codes in the
This critical work will build on listening
nation and abroad rely on consensus
sessions NOAA held with key industry sectors
guidance provided by ASCE.
in early 2022, including not only architecture
If standards continue to be based on the
assumption of a historic, static climate
system, many federal and non-federal
“ASCE fully supports the partnership with
investments may be exposed to significant,
NOAA and the university,” said Tom Smith,
but avoidable, risk.
Executive Director of ASCE. “The results
“This partnership can help us accelerate
the move toward more climate-resilient
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
will be of critical importance in supporting
the development of standards for resilient
of NOAA-produced climate science and
understanding within engineering practice
for the design and construction of climateresilient infrastructure, through developing
and updating ASCE codes and standards.
and engineering but retail, travel and tourism,
and insurance/reinsurance. NOAA will partner
with these industry sectors, and others, to
provide more customized climate data and
information to protect lives and livelihoods.
infrastructure nationally and globally.”
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 0
01CLIMATE
OU TCO M E S
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 2
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Climate, Improve Environmental
Predictions and Projections objective will include:
■ Information for creating
ecosystem projections, assessing
risks and identifying options for
managing ocean resources in a
changing climate is accessible to
decision-makers and the public.
■ Actionable subseasonal-to-seasonal
forecasts of hazard risk, including
drought, extreme heat and cold,
fire weather, flooding, atmospheric
rivers, tornadoes, marine heat waves
and tropical cyclones, are available.
■ NOAA provides actionable
subseasonal-to-seasonal and
longer-scale information on
environmental threats, informed
by social science.
■ Underserved and vulnerable
communities have equitable access
to information that enables them
to improve their preparedness,
responsiveness and resilience to
water availability and flood risks.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ Decision-makers and the public
have access to actionable
information to optimally manage,
mitigate and build resilience to inland
and coastal flood threats, optimize
commercial port infrastructure,
ensure safe and efficient navigation
on inland waterways, optimally
design, build and operate critical
national infrastructure and support
life-sustaining water management.
■ Fire weather forecast accuracy
and user response are measured
to ensure highly accurate weather
forecasts, products and messages
are delivered to end users when
and how they need them.
■ Practical information, supported
by social science, is available for
decision-makers and the public to
understand and manage waterquality risks to support recreation
opportunities in rivers, lakes,
estuaries, fisheries and coastal
environments.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 1
01CLIMATE
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 3
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
ADVANCE INTEGRATED
BREAKTHROUGH CLIMATE RESEARCH
NOAA will develop interdisciplinary and integrated research that
looks across Earth systems and social sciences to understand
the complex, cascading and compounding impacts of climate
change. NOAA’s state-of-the-art research will cut across
disciplines and specializations to encourage the growth of
innovative data assimilation across data types, enhance model
components and develop new model applications. Research
to enhance climate adaptation will integrate information on
extreme weather and climate across sectors and timescales with
localized socioeconomic and behavioral data to assess impact
and resilience scenarios, potential solutions and implementation
strategies. NOAA will accelerate and facilitate the transition
of research and development to operations, applications,
commercialization and other uses.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
M AT U R E W O R L D - C L A S S N E X T- G E N E R AT I O N
EARTH S YSTEM MODELS
S T R E N G T H E N C A PA C I T Y
FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RE SE ARCH
A DVA N C E C U T T I N G - E D G E I N T E G R AT E D
R E S E A R C H T O O P E R AT I O N S
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 2
01CLIMATE
1.3.1 MATURE WORLD-CLASS
NEXT-GENERATION EARTH SYSTEM
MODELS
1.3.2 STRENGTHEN CAPACITY FOR
SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
NOAA will expand its social science data capacity
1.3.3 ADVANCE CUTTING-EDGE
INTEGRATED RESEARCH TO
OPERATIONS
NOAA will develop next-generation Earth
in order to collect, store and integrate data on the
Actionable interdisciplinary Earth system research
observations systems that reliably estimate
vulnerabilities to and impacts of complex climate
will be improved to integrate physical risks with
weather, water and climate risks. This will include
and extreme weather events on community
social, behavioral and economic vulnerabilities to
new process understanding by improving,
resilience. Through investments in corporate
effectively develop and communicate tools and
standardizing, hardening and increasing
human resources and enterprise-wide data
resources that reliably estimate weather, water
observations of the ocean, atmosphere, tides,
infrastructure, NOAA will expand its ability to
and climate risks. Work to accelerate research to
ice and land for better predictions, projections,
track and predict public risk and resilience across
operations will enhance current modeling and
monitoring and applied products. These models
sectors and communities. These investments
projections work to integrate data across climate
will capture a more comprehensive description
will also support the development of relevant
and extreme weather systems accounting for
of the complexity and interactions of climate
and actionable information for resilience and
chronic and acute hazards and addressing needs
and extreme weather events and their societal
management across multiple hazards.
across a range of audiences and timescales.
impacts. NOAA will complete the buildout of
its critical climate observations networks to
monitor changes that impact climate-vulnerable
communities including expansion of and
D I D YO U K N O W ?
enhanced observations, mapping, futureN E S D I S — N AT I O N A L E N V I R O N M E N TA L
conditions projections, data assimilation, quality
S AT E L L I T E , DATA , A N D I N F O R M AT I O N S E R V I C E —
control and dissemination across spatial and
O P E R AT E S T H E N AT I O N ’ S W E AT H E R S AT E L L I T E S
temporal scales.
A R O U N D T H E C L O C K , 3 6 5 DAY S A Y E A R .
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 3
“
We must urgently reduce our emissions while also increasing our efforts
to adapt to the impacts we can no longer avoid. Simply put, societies and
ecosystems need to prepare now for the increasing effects of extreme heat,
drought, sea level rise and other impacts of climate change.
DR . RICK SPINR AD
Fog cloaks Cape Perpetua in
Oregon’s Siuslaw National Forest
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 4
01CLIMATE
OU TCO M E S
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 3
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Advance Integrated Breakthrough
Climate Research objective will include:
■ Decision-makers and the public have
access to clear visualizations and
communications of weather, water
and climate risks leveraging social,
behavioral and economic science.
■ NOAA models integrate disciplines
and specializations to reflect the
Earth system and important
intersecting human, ecosystem
and environmental factors.
■ NOAA’s fire weather tools and
technologies utilize social and
behavioral science to transform
the agency’s ability to produce,
disseminate and make accessible
a full spectrum of fire-related
information and services.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ Decision-makers and the public have
access to the actionable information,
supported by social science, to
optimally manage water resources,
water supply and risk in the face
of water stress exacerbated by
climate change.
■ The public trusts and relies upon
NOAA’s forecasts for short- and longterm planning because its models
are more informative, accurate and
usable than ever before.
■ NOAA efficiently advances new
technologies from the beginning
stages of research and development
through the stages of testing and
demonstration to their ultimate
transition to operation, application,
commercialization or other use.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 5
01CLIMATE
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 4
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
BOLSTER AUTHORITATIVE DATA
AND INFORMATION STEWARDSHIP
NOAA will maximize accessibility, transparency, reliability,
usability and public trust in accordance with data
community standards and by leveraging the burgeoning
cloud infrastructure. NOAA’s data will also be reproducible,
easily discoverable and will work with other products or
systems. NOAA will embrace quality-controlled and analysisready artificial intelligence and machine learning data
processes and decision-ready information to meet growing
customer demand. NOAA will manage its non-observational
information with a similar rigor and will cultivate successful
relationships with private-sector solution providers.
I M P R OV E DATA S T E WA R D S H I P
O P T I M I Z E P L AT F O R M - AG N O S T I C
DATA A N D I N F O R M AT I O N
I M P R OV E E N T E R P R I S E - L E V E L
DATA M A N AG E M E N T
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 6
01CLIMATE
1.4.1 IMPROVE DATA STEWARDSHIP
Data stewardship is a critical factor to realize the
1.4.2 OPTIMIZE PLATFORMAGNOSTIC DATA AND INFORMATION
1.4.3 IMPROVE ENTERPRISE-LEVEL
DATA MANAGEMENT
full value of the multi-billion dollar investment
NOAA will pursue the continued development
NOAA will pursue rigorous, technologically savvy
NOAA makes in Earth system observations
of platform-agnostic data and information sets
and efficient enterprise management of its
and ensure these data are available for future
that coalesce data from multiple sources. NOAA
information infrastructure. Databases to support
generations. All NOAA observations supporting
will leverage the lasting value of its observational
NOAA’s institutional science holdings will utilize
real-time analysis, forecasting and research
holdings to create robust, sustainable and
efficient, cloud-based enterprise solutions to
will be treated as a vital public investment with
scientifically sound analysis and AI-ready
maximize the availability of this information, and
lasting value. To achieve this, NOAA will continue
climate records with the longevity, consistency
customer requirements and feedback will be
to steward and curate its information holdings
and continuity needed to understand climate
managed through federated enterprise tools.
according to best practices among the data
variability and change. NOAA will pursue an
management community. NOAA will implement a
approach to incorporate historical, current and
comprehensive archival and stewardship process
future information into datasets that help users
that ensures all of its data and critical information
more efficiently draw lessons from the past and
products and derived datasets are accessible,
better understand the future.
integrated, discoverable, traceable and reusable by
ensuring NOAA data collection efforts incorporate
and resource long-term stewardship plans.
D I D YO U K N O W ?
C H A R G E D PA R T I C L E S A N D R A D I AT I O N F R O M T H E
S U N , C A L L E D S PA C E W E AT H E R , C A N P O T E N T I A L LY
A F F E C T E A R T H , O U R AT M O S P H E R E A N D T H E
N E A R - E A R T H S PA C E E N V I R O N M E N T.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 7
01CLIMATE
OU TCO M E S
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 4
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Bolster Authoritative Data
and Information Stewardship objective will include:
■ Customer feedback on the usability
of NOAA information and tools is
managed in a consistent way across
the agency.
■ NOAA datasets are openly available
via partners’ cloud platforms to
the public and America’s Weather
Enterprise.
■ NOAA successfully implements an
enterprise-wide data dissemination plan.
■ Climate data records integrate
historical NOAA datasets into more
useful time series for climate-scale
analysis and applications.
■ Agency partnerships with private
industry are leveraged to deliver
enhanced data, products and tools.
■ NOAA’s data customers are engaged
and satisfied.
■ The comprehensive data archival
and stewardship process for data
is enhanced to more efficiently and
effectively support discovery, access,
interoperability and reusability of
NOAA’s environmental data.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ NOAA establishes, implements and
tracks clear guidance for metadata
and stewardship requirements
associated with an “authoritative”
dataset.
■ NOAA observational platforms
incorporate and resource long-term
stewardship in their project plans.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 8
01CLIMATE
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 5
ENHANCE COMPREHENSIVE
OBSERVATIONS AND
MONITORING SYSTEMS
I M P R OV E L O C A L / I N - S I T U D I S T R I B U T E D
O B S E R VAT I O N S
NOAA will sustain and improve its observing and
data dissemination system infrastructure with new
technologies while leveraging more observations through
innovative public and private partnerships. The agency
will develop a comprehensive observation portfolio and
deploy next-generation satellite programs and data
processing systems, and other remote sensing and insitu observation platforms, to include advanced aircraft,
ships and uncrewed systems.
I N N OVAT E S PAC E - B A S E D O B S E R VAT I O N S
E X PA N D C O M M E R C I A L PA R T N E R S H I P S A N D
NEW TECHNOLOGY
I M P R OV E C O M M O N S O U R C E
DATA I N T E G R AT I O N A N D C O M M O N
GROUND SERVICES
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 2 9
01CLIMATE
1.5.1 IMPROVE LOCAL/IN-SITU
DISTRIBUTED OBSERVATIONS
1.5.2 INNOVATE SPACE-BASED
OBSERVATIONS
NOAA will maintain, harden and extend the spatial
NOAA will deliver a wide array of climate,
1.5.4 IMPROVE COMMON SOURCE
DATA INTEGRATION AND COMMON
GROUND SERVICES
and temporal scale of existing climate, ocean
weather and environmental observations from
NOAA will enhance a common architecture
and atmosphere in-situ observing platforms
geostationary and low-Earth orbits, space
and whole-agency approach to analyzing
while seeking opportunities to maximize both
weather observations and common ground
and disseminating data by transitioning the
the real-time collection of the observations and
services while working with industry in innovative
current hardware and software functions to
information dissemination to meet user needs.
ways to build a hybrid, disaggregated architecture.
a cloud-enabled framework to run updated
NOAA will also extend networks and increase
software and generate products and services
the number of sites among programs to collect
from any applicable data source. The increased
observations in data-sparse areas with land,
infrastructure capacity will include the ability
sea and air assets including NOAA ships, planes,
to securely and efficiently ingest, process,
stationary and underway observing platforms
distribute and archive an increasing volume
capabilities with targeted field campaigns and
1.5.3 EXPAND COMMERCIAL
PARTNERSHIPS AND NEW
TECHNOLOGY
evaluate and continuously improve NOAA’s ability
NOAA will strengthen existing partnerships while
to meet observational requirements with ships,
also leveraging new commercial partnerships,
aircraft and uncrewed operations.
innovative small modular satellite technology
and remote uncrewed operations. NOAA will
augment its observing systems and develop new
and complexity of data.
and in situ observing platforms to optimize
the operations and procurement of its fleet
of environmental assets that provide critical
observations of the Earth and space. NOAA will
expand partnership opportunities to collect new
observations to assist in better understanding
changing weather, water and climate conditions.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 0
A stratus layer flows over
neighboring peaks on Mount
Washington, New Hampshire
“
No matter the need, people will know they can turn to NOAA for reliable, easy-touse climate information. We are already seeing increasing demands for this, as
demonstrated by the record-setting summer of extreme heat, exceptional drought,
raging wildfires, unprecedented rains and damaging hurricanes. The climate crisis
is upon us and NOAA is a key part of the whole-of-government response.
DR . RICK SPINR AD
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 1
01CLIMATE
OU TCO M E S
CLI M ATE : S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 1. 5
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Enhance Comprehensive
Observations and Monitoring Systems objective will include:
■ New observations and monitoring
enable detection of key parameters
beyond current norms to improve
understanding of future climate
changes.
■ Satellite constellation and ground
systems continue to operate with
the high-reliability, secure and timely
delivery of data and services that the
nation requires.
■ Enhanced or new products and
services result from a combination
of NOAA and partner data sources
for use in monitoring Earth system
health and sustainability.
■ Technologies and approaches
to share relevant information
are leveraged to heighten the
understanding of the Earth system,
the management of its resources
and the effects on society.
■ NOAA continues to steward and
lead long-term global atmospheric
sampling and observations to provide
the world with uninterrupted data
going back decades to support
atmospheric and climate data
analyses, satellite observation
validations and improvements in
model development and predictions.
■ NOAA maintains and extends the
longevity of existing observing
platforms while seeking
opportunities to maximize
the collection and benefit
of observations.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 2
N OA A S TR ATE G I C GOA L 0 2
MAKE EQUITY CENTRAL
TO NOAA’S MISSION
As NOAA tackles the climate crisis by building a Climate
Ready Nation, it will strive to ensure the needs of the
nation’s underserved and vulnerable communities
are met.
02
To meet this challenge, NOAA is making equity central
to every facet of its mission delivery services and is
working internally to create a model agency that
draws from the full diversity of the nation, where
everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
Teachers participate in
watershed education experience
at Matagorda Bay, Texas
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 3
02 EQUITY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
E QU I T Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 2 .1
A DVA N C E E E O T O S T R E N G T H E N
BUILD A MODEL WORKPLACE
ACC O U N TA B I L I T Y
NOAA is firmly committed to increasing the diversity
of its workforce and creating a more inclusive work
environment where everyone feels valued, is treated fairly
and experiences a true sense of belonging. A key outcome
of this plan is to fully integrate diversity, equity, inclusion
and accessibility (DEIA) into NOAA’s business practices and
organizational culture by pursuing the following strategies
to strengthen NOAA’s ability to recruit, hire, develop,
promote and retain diverse talent and remove barriers to
equal opportunities.
DEEPEN WORKFORCE EQUIT Y AND BELONGING
D I V E R S I F Y N OA A S T E M F I E L D S A N D E N H A N C E
PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H M I N O R I T Y- S E R V I N G
INSTITUTIONS (MSIS)
I N T E G R AT E E Q U I T Y I N T O S E X UA L A S S AU LT/
S E X UA L H A R A S S M E N T ( S A S H ) P R E V E N T I O N
AND RESPONSE EFFORTS
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 4
02 EQUITY
2.1.1 ADVANCE EEO TO STRENGTHEN
ACCOUNTABILITY
2.1.2 DEEPEN WORKFORCE EQUITY
AND BELONGING
NOAA is dedicated to creating workplaces that
For continued success, NOAA will create a
are free of discrimination and harassment
model workplace that will continue to improve
where every employee has equal opportunities
employee satisfaction and belonging by refining
for success. NOAA will further establish model
its organizational values, updating recruitment
workplace practices and will evaluate progress
practices, exploring new retention programs
using an annual self-assessment that benchmarks
and expanding employee development and
agency progress against established best
engagement programs at all career levels. As
practices in equal employment opportunity.
NOAA strengthens its organizational culture
NOAA will also increase the number of barrier
of accountability for its equity initiatives, it will
analyses conducted to identify and address root
leverage insights from internal employee groups
causes of employment-related disparities. To
and external affinity organizations to drive
ensure fairness and openness in hiring, NOAA
outcomes that ensure NOAA achieves its talent
will increase the use of diverse hiring panels and
management goals. NOAA is committed to
enhance training for hiring officials. Finally, NOAA
building and strengthening efforts to share the
will improve the timely and efficient processing of
agency’s exciting and important mission with
EEO complaints by applying interagency-derived
children, youth and adults through outreach
best practices.
and education while increasing the pipeline
D I D YO U K N O W ?
THE OFFICE OF MARINE AND
AV I AT I O N O P E R AT I O N S M A N AG E S
of diverse talent.
A N D O P E R AT E S N OA A’ S F L E E T O F
15 RE SE ARCH AND SURVE Y SHIPS AND
N I N E A I R C R A F T, T H E N AT I O N ’ S L A R G E S T.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 5
D I D YO U K N O W ?
O C E A N I C A N D AT M O S P H E R I C
R E S E A R C H — O R N OA A R E S E A R C H —
P R OV I D E S T H E R E S E A R C H
F O U N DAT I O N F O R U N D E R S TA N D I N G
T H E C O M P L E X S Y S T E M S T H AT
2.1.3 DIVERSIFY NOAA STEM FIELDS
AND ENHANCE PARTNERSHIP WITH
MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS
(MSIS)
2.1.4 INTEGRATE EQUITY INTO
SEXUAL ASSAULT/SEXUAL
HARASSMENT (SASH) PREVENTION
AND RESPONSE EFFORTS
NOAA will leverage its large education community
NOAA will build on its highly successful
to expand efforts to promote STEM careers to
workplace safety programs to focus on a more
underrepresented minorities and communities at
robust SASH prevention and response process
the K–12 and college levels while also connecting
including expanding resources to regions with
a diverse set of students with exciting scholarship
a higher prevalence of SASH-related incidents.
opportunities and making it easier to hire them
NOAA will also ensure its workforce recognizes
through use of direct hire authority. NOAA will
and effectively responds to SASH incidents by
also provide paid internships and fellowships to
providing more robust training that addresses
NOAA education program participants, including
inappropriate workplace behaviors, bystander
MSI undergraduate and graduate students,
intervention and unconscious bias.
allowing them to gain hands-on experience and
S U P P O R T O U R P L A N E T.
conduct important research with NOAA scientists
and other STEM experts. Finally, NOAA will
increase engagement with academic research
partners and provide financial support directly to
MSIs to build capacity to conduct research and
offer degrees in NOAA mission-related fields.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 6
02 EQUITY
OU TCO M E S
E QU IT Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 2 .1
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Build a Model Workplace
objective will include:
■ NOAA’s workforce reflects the
diversity of the American people
including its STEM professionals and
leaders.
■ The NOAA workplace celebrates
diversity and fosters safety,
belonging and career advancement
for all employees.
■ NOAA continuously nurtures a
pipeline of young, diverse future
employees by creating interest in and
providing avenues to STEM careers.
■ Barriers and biases in NOAA’s
hiring of diverse, highly-qualified
candidates are reduced.
■ NOAA cultivates an inclusive work
environment that empowers and
engages every team member.
■ All NOAA staff have equal access to
career development opportunities.
■ NOAA leadership is accountable for
managing diversity, equity, inclusion
and accessibility across NOAA.
■ The agency removes racial
inequalities and all forms of
discrimination and harassment in its
workplaces, especially sexual assault
and sexual harassment (SASH).
■ NOAA creates a culture that
promotes the employment of
individuals with disabilities.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 7
02 EQUITY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
L AU N C H N AT I O N A L I N T E G R AT E D
COMMUNIT Y PILOT PROJEC TS
E QU I T Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 2 . 2
SUPPORT UNDERSERVED AND
VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES
Underserved and vulnerable communities are often
disproportionately impacted by increasing extreme
weather, water, ocean and climate events. This includes
floods, drought, wildfires, heat waves and poor air quality.
Underserved and vulnerable communities are those that
have been systematically denied a full opportunity to
participate in aspects of economic, social and civic life.
NOAA will expand equity-focused solution development
to address these impacts by leveraging its deep
experience in service delivery and regional collaboration
and partnerships with underserved and vulnerable
communities. NOAA will advance five key strategies to help
underserved and vulnerable communities most threatened
by weather and climate hazards.
R E M OV E A D M I N I S T R AT I V E B U R D E N S
D E S I G N E A S Y-T O - U S E C L I M AT E
TOOLS AND SERVICES
DE VELOP NEW COMMUNIT Y
E N G AG E M E N T A P P R OAC H E S
STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SCIENCE
A N D E VA L UAT I O N C A PAC I T Y
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 8
CLIMATE EQUITY PILOT PROJECTS
Building Climate Resilience in Underserved and
Vulnerable Communities
Alaska
NOAA is collaborating with partners in underserved and vulnerable communities on
pilot projects to develop tailored, place-based climate adaptation strategies that will
enhance resilience to climate hazards such as flooding, heat and coastal inundation.
ALASKA
GREAT LAKES
Expanding and connecting
tribal-led climate change
capacity to serve indigenous
community needs in Alaska
Address urban flooding
with Climate Action Plan
CENTRAL
Increase flood and drought
resilience within the Upper
Mississippi River Basin Plan
NORTH ATLANTIC
WEST
Enhance community
engagement in climate
risk communication
Address heat-health risks in
vulnerable populations
SOUTHEAST & CARIBBEAN
Address heat-health risks in
vulnerable populations
Hawaii
Guam and
Northern
Marianas
American
Samoa
GULF OF MEXICO
Develop tribal community
resilience tools for coastal impacts
PACIFIC ISLANDS
Utilize agroforestry dashboard blending
western and traditional knowledge
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
Puerto Rico
and U.S. Virgin Islands
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 3 9
02 EQUITY
2.2.1 LAUNCH NATIONAL
INTEGRATED COMMUNITY
PILOT PROJECTS
2.2.2 REMOVE ADMINISTRATIVE
BURDENS
NOAA will complete regional pilots to enhance
and participating in federal programs may be
resilience to flooding, heat and coastal inundation,
challenging for underserved and vulnerable
leveraging recommendations from its Climate and
populations and can exacerbate inequities.
Equity Roundtables conducted around the nation
NOAA will take additional steps to review its
(see graphic on previous page). NOAA will work
administrative processes for key programs to
more closely with community partners on these
ensure they reduce administrative burdens
pilots to increase participation from underserved
and are more accessible to underserved and
and vulnerable populations for planning and
vulnerable populations. To help direct funds to
training sessions and to tailor NOAA’s products
underserved and vulnerable communities, NOAA
and services where appropriate to address place-
will continue reviewing funding opportunities as
and community-based needs, as illustrated by
they are developed for accessibility, eligibility,
the partnership to address coastal flooding in
review criteria, use of funds, matching or grantee
Connecticut described on page 42.
contribution and expected outcomes.
Applying for federal funding opportunities
D I D YO U K N O W ?
2 0 2 1 WA S T H E W O R L D ’ S
6 T H - WA R M E S T Y E A R
O N R E C O R D.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 0
02 EQUITY
2.2.3 DESIGN EASY-TO-USE
TOOLS AND SERVICES
2.2.4 DEVELOP NEW COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT APPROACHES
2.2.5 STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SCIENCE
AND EVALUATION CAPACITY
NOAA will continue improving service delivery
NOAA will implement a holistic Community
NOAA’s equity-focused outcomes will be
and leveraging customer experience tools to
Engagement Program within the National
supported by an increase in social science
ensure that new products and services consider
Weather Service to ensure that underserved and
expertise, applying the latest information on
the needs of underserved and vulnerable
vulnerable communities have greater access to
social, behavioral and economic factors to
communities, help build trust and are effective
key disaster preparedness programs. As part of
communities, households and individuals. NOAA
and user-friendly. NOAA will also promote
the Community Engagement Program, NOAA will
will study fishing engagement and reliance
community social vulnerability indicators paired
increase education and outreach to underserved
indicators to help understand and manage for
with commercial and recreational fisheries data
and vulnerable communities and launch pilot
social vulnerability and community resilience.
to describe and evaluate a coastal community’s
programs to increase understanding of and
NOAA will continue developing mechanisms
ability to respond to changing social, economic
responsiveness to important forecasts, watches
to integrate this information across multiple
and environmental conditions.
and warnings, such as flooding and extreme
programs in collaboration with the communities
temperature events.
themselves. NOAA will also strengthen its
program assessments to determine whether
they are meeting and exceeding requirements
including effectively serving underserved and
vulnerable communities.
D I D YO U K N O W ?
AT L E A S T H A L F O F
E A R T H ’ S OX YG E N C O M E S
FROM THE OCE AN.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 41
02 EQUITY
Example of coastal inundation
on North Carolina’s coast
NOAA PREPARES FOR MORE
EQUITABLE FUTURE
PA R T NER S P OTLI G HT
Climate Readiness through Connecticut
Community Participation and Risk
Communication Pilot
In Connecticut, extreme weather is affecting underserved and
vulnerable communities at an alarming rate. The state’s environmental
justice communities that are located in flood plains, are increasingly
impacted by severe storms, and experience disproportionate
impacts from high heat and air quality issues. To compound these
difficulties, many underserved and vulnerable communities also
have aging infrastructure that can exacerbate damage and inhibit
recovery from severe weather events caused by climate change.
For many years, NOAA has worked closely with the state of
Connecticut on climate issues, and recently this partnership
expanded to address climate readiness from an equity lens. In
June 2021, the agency’s North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Team
(NART) and the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) hosted a climate and equity roundtable to focus
on a more equitable future in climate planning and readiness.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 2
02 EQUITY
M O R E E Q U I TA B L E F U T U R E (c o n t . )
“It is incredibly important to have this
conversation with our federal partner
and ground truth with NOAA the issues
that we are facing,” said Dr. Rebecca
French, DEEP’s Director of the Office of
Climate Planning.
Despite the development of resources
that illustrate and assess the effects of sea
D I D YO U K N O W ?
appropriate messaging), users not being
engaged at the beginning of product
development to ensure relevancy and need,
or limited knowledge about what tools are
available and/or how to use them effectively.
$1 . 5 3 T R I L L I O N I N DA M AG E S
the understanding and use of NOAA tools
and technical assistance.
During the roundtable, it became clear that
co-development of NOAA resources alongside
heat, coastal and inland flooding, extreme
community members and decision-makers
precipitation and key mitigation efforts
must happen in order for underserved and
(e.g., living shorelines, protection of critical
vulnerable communities to take advantage
infrastructure), many of these tools are
of the services and tools that already exist
underutilized by citizens in Connecticut’s
and to ensure residents are fully prepared for
most underserved and vulnerable
rising sea levels and the resulting increased
communities.
frequency of coastal flooding.
Key factors to underutilization include
The resulting Connecticut Community
organizational capacity limitations, barriers
Participation and Risk Communication Pilot
to accessibility (e.g., language, culturally
specifically supports relationship building
C L I M AT E
T H E U . S . T H AT H AV E C O S T A C O M B I N E D
and education are all necessary to increase
level rise, storm surge, vulnerability and
G OA L S S U M M A RY
W E AT H E R O R C L I M AT E D I S A S T E R S I N
According to Dr. French, training, investment
resilience to a variety of stressors such as
INTRO
F R O M 2 0 0 5 T O 2 0 2 1 T H E R E H AV E
B E E N 2 1 0 S E PA R AT E B I L L I O N - D O L L A R
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 3
02 EQUITY
M O R E E Q U I TA B L E F U T U R E (c o n t . )
shared in order to continually expand and
with organizations and leaders that are
“Having the attention of a federal agency on
trusted among local residents of these
these issues is a new, valuable experience
improve our relationships with underserved
communities. These entities, known as bridge
for the community organizations who
and vulnerable communities and ensure
organizations, bring a depth of knowledge
participated. This pilot will build a strong
a more equitable future in climate
that is vital in the co-development of NOAA
foundation for ongoing partnerships with
preparedness for all Americans.
resources. Bridge organizations unite
NOAA as they continue their equity work,”
community members and decision makers
said Dr. French.
to take advantage of existing tools and
services, and ensure that future products are
maximally relevant, accessible and impactful.
Following completion of the pilot, projected
to be in fall 2023, a debrief will be held with
partners, identified through the Connecticut
This pilot will help NOAA understand what
Governor’s Council on Climate Change’s
activities are most meaningful to these
Equity and Environmental Justice Working
communities and provide resources to
Group, to evaluate the success of the pilot
nurture trusted relationships with bridge
and determine how the effective processes
organizations that can help guide the co-
can be scaled to serve other North Atlantic
development of future NOAA tools, products
communities.
and services. Doing so will equip underserved
and vulnerable populations to prepare and
respond to the real-life impacts of extreme
weather and climate change.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
Additionally, this process and the lessons
learned will be presented to the other NOAA
regional teams so we can make certain
challenges are clearly documented and
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 4
Children play in nuisance
flooding from the Elizabeth
River in Norfolk, Virginia
“
It is important to achieve something visible to a community.
To identify a problem these communities care about and take action.
That’s what NOAA is doing with these [climate equity] pilots.
D R . R E B E CC A F R E N C H
Director of the Office of Climate Planning
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 5
02 EQUITY
OU TCO M E S
E QU IT Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 2 . 2
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Support Underserved
and Vulnerable Communities objective will include:
■ Underserved and vulnerable
communities will have more
equitable access to information,
delivered in traditional and nontraditional ways, to improve their
resilience to climate and extreme
weather impacts.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ Decision-makers have access
to forecast and other services
translated into multiple languages
and delivered in formats that
communicate risk in context-specific
ways, emphasizing new media as
appropriate.
■ NOAA develops new tools,
information and training to inform
adaptation plans to manage risks
from changing oceans, especially
in marine-dependent communities,
including underserved communities
in the Arctic.
■ Mechanisms for the identification of
and development of partnerships
with underserved and vulnerable
communities ensure relevant and
effective science, services and tools
reach decision-makers.
■ Barriers are removed that make
applying for federal funding
opportunities and engaging in
federal programs challenging
for underserved and vulnerable
populations.
■ New coastal resilience services
are available for highly vulnerable
communities in Alaska and
in underserved rural coastal
communities.
■ Designs are modified to make
NOAA data and tools more accessible
for people with disabilities and
user-friendly to underserved
and vulnerable communities.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 6
N OA A S TR ATE G I C GOA L 0 3
ACCELERATE GROWTH IN
AN INFORMATION-BASED
BLUE ECONOMY
03
The U.S. will develop a robust blue economy — that is, the
sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth,
improved livelihoods and job creation — to realize the
untapped potential of America’s ocean and coastal
environments, contribute to equitable climate change
adaptation strategies and unleash innovation.
An information-based blue economy relies on
the development and dissemination of ocean
and coastally derived data and information
services to enhance our understanding and
predictive capabilities regarding the impacts
of climate change as the ocean changes at
an unprecedented rate. To advance this
goal, NOAA will provide data, information
and services to catalyze American
competitiveness, accelerate growth
of sustainable ocean industries and
facilitate the technology advancements
for coastal and marine solutions to
climate challenges.
Aerial view of a heavy loaded container
cargo vessel traveling over calm, blue sea
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 7
03 BLUE ECONOMY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 .1
IMPROVE OCEAN-RELATED
DATA AND DATA ACCESS
NOAA will make its environmental information available
on a free and open basis supporting the development of
a New Blue Economy. The New Blue Economy, founded on
capabilities for acquiring data and developing information,
will enable the nation to spur responsible, long-term
economic growth by protecting ocean health and ensuring
social equity. NOAA will take steps to facilitate the use of
its data and services by governmental, tribal, indigenous,
academic, commercial and other partners to foster new
economic opportunities including the development of valueadded services.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
PROMOTE THE DE VELOPMENT OF
THE OCEAN ENTERPRISE
I N N OVAT E A P P R OAC H E S F O R DATA
COLLEC TION AND FORECA S TING
I N C R E A S E S TA K E H O L D E R E N G AG E M E N T
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 8
03 BLUE ECONOMY
3.1.1 PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE OCEAN ENTERPRISE
3.1.3 INCREASE STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
The business component of the New Blue
3.1.2 INNOVATE APPROACHES
FOR DATA COLLECTION AND
FORECASTING
Economy, the Ocean Enterprise, comprises the
To ensure the New Blue Economy has the ocean
opportunities to create innovative and sustainable
manufacturers and providers of the technological
and atmospheric data and information needed
climate-smart products, services and businesses
means to collect ocean data and the intermediary
to address societal challenges and grow the
in traditional and novel blue economy sectors.
businesses creating value-added information
economy, NOAA and its partners will collaborate
NOAA will increase stakeholder engagement to
services. Through effective dialogue and
to improve data collection, data management
better capture evolving societal challenges and
partnering, NOAA will establish core principles
and forecasting capabilities. NOAA will increase
user needs. NOAA will prioritize social inclusion
and processes for information exchange
data collection to include industry-based data
and equity in every aspect of stakeholder
and encourage commercial development of
collection and real-time reporting of ocean
engagement and service delivery. The agency
customized information services supported by
and atmospheric observations. NOAA will also
will provide public indications of its anticipated
NOAA’s data and information.
explore artificial intelligence, machine learning
new ocean-climate information and services as
and data visualization technologies for use in at-
a means to offer predictability for industry and
sea observing, data and video analysis and stock
others endeavoring to develop their own new
assessments.
products.
The New Blue Economy presents NOAA with
D I D YO U K N O W ?
N OA A F I S H E R I E S H E L P S
ENSURE U. S. FISHERIES ARE
AMONG THE WORLD’ S L ARGE S T
A N D M O S T S U S TA I N A B L E .
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 4 9
03 BLUE ECONOMY
PARTNERING
WITH INDUSTRY
PA R T NER S P OTLI G HT
Key to Growing
the New Blue Economy
Collaboration and partnership with private sector
organizations are central to NOAA’s mission to support
the development and growth of the New Blue Economy,
helping to deliver the information and knowledge
needed to support sustainable use of the ocean and
coastal resources, while protecting ocean health and
ecosystem services.
One such partnership is with Fugro, one of the world’s
leading geo-data specialists. With more than 1,150
US employees in 21 offices across nine states, Fugro
acquires, analyzes and provides advice on critical data
about the ocean, informing opportunities for economic
benefit and delivering information needed to manage
and protect the ocean and coastal environment.
Offshore wind turbines in Block Island
Sound off Southern New England
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 0
03 BLUE ECONOMY
PA R T N E R I N G W I T H I N D U S T RY (c o n t .)
Working with organizations like Fugro, NOAA
conditions,” said David Millar, Government
is able to amplify its efforts to provide the
Accounts Director for Fugro in the Americas.
data, information and knowledge needed
“This creates a tremendous opportunity for
to support growth of the blue economy, the
public-private partnerships to co-invest in
creation of American jobs and the response
ocean data for public and private benefit.”
to pressing challenges such as mitigating and
adapting to climate change.
Through contracts with industry partnerships
such as that with Fugro, NOAA brings
Private industries are a major user of NOAA’s
together the public and private sectors in
authoritative ocean data and information to
the collection and use of ocean data to
support advancement of offshore renewable
advance NOAA’s science mission and foster
energy development. Offshore wind is a
sustainable development while responding
sustainable energy source that will play a
to societal challenges such as climate change,
crucial role in the US response to climate
energy and food security.
change and NOAA’s mission to build a climate
D I D YO U K N O W ?
ready nation.
“The private sector is generating ocean data
THE NEW BLUE ECONOMY
throughout US waters, but most visibly now
P R O M O T E S T H E G AT H E R I N G
in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic waters in
AND USE OF NEW
I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T
support of offshore wind development. These
data have wider value to NOAA’s mission
THE OCEAN TO ADDRESS
around fisheries, marine habitat protection
S O C I E TA L C H A L L E N G E S .
and general understanding of ocean
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 51
“
We are working to show how we can build a $100 billion climate
services enterprise, a key portion of which is this New Blue
Economy. Private sector businesses are key partners for NOAA
in delivering these endeavors.
D R . R I C H A R D W. S P I N R A D
Fisherman’s Wharf at sunset
in Monterey, California
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 2
03 BLUE ECONOMY
OU TCO M E S
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 .1
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Improve Ocean-Related Data
and Data Access objective include:
■ Through the development of
customized information services,
NOAA supports a thriving ocean
enterprise that adds sustainable
economic opportunities while
providing valuable climate and ocean
services and solutions.
■ NOAA continues to pioneer the
development and use of innovative
technologies to advance marine data
collection methods.
■ Growth is achieved in Marine
Economy Satellite Account industries
that encompass New Blue Economy
products and services.
■ NOAA enhances coastal and
ocean observing systems and
ensures data availability in
response to user needs.
■ NOAA strategically uses private
data buys to support NOAA marine
forecasts and information.
■ Living marine resource managers
and resource-dependent sectors
have access to robust forecasts,
projections, risk assessments and
management strategies to optimize
fisheries management and increase
the resilience of marine resources
and the communities that depend
on them.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 3
03 BLUE ECONOMY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 . 2
STRENGTHEN ESTABLISHED
SECTORS OF THE BLUE ECONOMY
In 2020 the American marine economy supported 2.2
million jobs and contributed approximately $361 billion
to the nation’s gross domestic product. NOAA will explore,
develop and advance state-of-the-science technology
to enhance its data and services that support existing
missions to reduce risk, increase safety and efficiency
and manage and conserve marine resources. Working
with industry partners, NOAA will help plan for climateresilient infrastructure and encourage more sustainable
operations — particularly with regard to conservation,
nature-based solutions, aquaculture, renewable energy and
other sectors with emerging interests in ocean co-benefits.
I M P R OV E A DA P T I V E F I S H E R I E S M A N AG E M E N T
E X PA N D S U S TA I N A B L E M A R I N E T O U R I S M
A N D R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S
S U P P O R T S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T
O F O F F S H O R E R E N E WA B L E E N E R G Y
A DVA N C E N OA A’ S C O N T R I B U T I O N
TO A SAFE AND EFFICIENT MARINE
T R A N S P O R TAT I O N S Y S T E M
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 4
03 BLUE ECONOMY
3.2.1 IMPROVE ADAPTIVE
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
NOAA will provide the science needed to further
3.2.2 EXPAND SUSTAINABLE
MARINE TOURISM AND RECREATION
OPPORTUNITIES
integrate changing ocean conditions into an
From Maine to Guam, marine recreation is
ecosystem approach to fisheries management
both a cultural cornerstone and an important
and to model and forecast those effects on fish
economic driver in the U.S., with coastal tourism
stocks, their habitat and seafood productivity.
and recreation in 2020 valued at $195.7 billion
By deploying economic tools and forecasts to
in sales. NOAA plays a critical role in protecting
promote responsible and sustainable industry
and promoting access to special coastal and
growth, diversify market opportunities,
marine places including managing a network
strengthen supply chains and ensure participation
of underwater parks encompassing more
of underrepresented communities, NOAA will
than 600,000 square miles of coastal, marine
build resilience to future crises and market
and Great Lakes waters. NOAA will tailor its
shocks in the fishing and aquaculture industries.
sustainable management of special places and
NOAA will also provide technical assistance
marine fisheries and promotion of conservation to
on the siting and permitting of aquaculture
ensure recreational opportunities for generations
enterprises. NOAA’s leadership in combating
to come.
the growing threat of illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing, and ensuring fair and
D I D YO U K N O W ?
reciprocal trade in fish products, will also protect
U.S. competitiveness and sustainability goals to
N OA A S E R V I C E S S U P P O R T M O R E
prevent harm to protected resources globally.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
T H A N O N E -T H I R D O F U . S . G D P.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 5
03
OFFSHORE WIND
Propelling the New Blue Economy Forward
Sustainable energy sources such as offshore wind are key drivers in developing the New Blue Economy. NOAA provides
technical assistance to help identify compatible sites for offshore wind development while minimizing impacts to fisheries,
fishing communities, protected marine species and their habitats.
THE OFFSHORE
T H E N AT I O N A L
HA S GROWN TO
10-YR GOAL
M E G AWAT T S
3O
WIND PIPELINE
I S T O D E P L OY
35,324
G I G AWAT T S
N O W I N VA R I O U S S TAG E S
OF OFFSHORE WINDPOWER
O F D E V E L O P M E N T.
2020
BY THE YE AR 2030.
REDUCE CARBON
SUPPORT
2030
77,000 JOBS
EMISSIONS BY
78 MILLION
G E N E R AT E P O W E R F O R
METRIC TONS
10 MILLION
INCLUDING 4 4 ,0 0 0
E M P L OY E D I N
OFFSHORE WIND
AMERICAN HOMES
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 6
3.2.3 SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT OF OFFSHORE
RENEWABLE ENERGY
D I D YO U K N O W ?
S H I P S M OV E $1 . 5 T R I L L I O N
WORTH OF PRODUC TS IN AND
O U T O F U . S . P O R T S E V E RY Y E A R .
The proliferation of the offshore wind sector
3.2.4 ADVANCE NOAA’S
CONTRIBUTION TO A SAFE
AND EFFICIENT MARINE
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
is a prime example of how the blue economy
NOAA will provide new services that will optimize
offers opportunities for sustainable business
the safety and utility of the nation’s marine
development and illustrates how NOAA
highways. Massive container ships are testing
can promote economic development while
the limits of U.S. ports with drafts reaching
maintaining environmental stewardship. The
the seafloor and superstructures so high that
installation and deployment of offshore wind
air gap under bridges is a real challenge. The
and other renewable energy sources requires
“just-in-time” supply chain upon which the U.S.
data and information about the conditions of the
economy depends requires that ports operate
ocean and how they will change over time. NOAA
safely and efficiently. NOAA’s Precision Marine
will work with industry and federal action agencies
Navigation program will offer mariners support
to provide scientific and social analyses to help
throughout every step of a voyage by integrating
balance competing uses and minimize impacts to
existing NOAA datasets and products in a way
fisheries, fishing communities, protected marine
that better meets their requirements. Mariners,
species and their habitat and NOAA observational
shippers, port authorities and other decision
systems.
makers will also receive access to more robust
information, such as high-resolution bathymetry,
more accurate water levels and surface currents
and improved forecasts of marine hazards.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 57
03 BLUE ECONOMY
OU TCO M E S
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 . 2
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Strengthen Established Sectors
of the Blue Economy objective will include:
■ NOAA makes advancements in
fisheries forecasting, environmental
stewardship, community outreach
and aquaculture to establish a
more sustainable and resilient U.S.
seafood industry.
■ The agency’s conservation efforts
and sustainable management
of America’s coastal and marine
natural treasures ensure robust
recreational opportunities for
generations to come.
■ NOAA’s expertise enables the U.S. to
expand its offshore wind sector with
minimal impacts to fisheries, fishing
communities, protected marine
species and their habitat.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ The Precision Marine Navigation
program optimizes the safety
and utility of the nation’s marine
highways, supporting the U.S.
economy and supply chain
reliant upon an efficient marine
transportation system.
■ Aquaculture-based industries
and economies are supported by a
comprehensive national framework
for sustainable and productive
aquaculture.
■ Decision-makers have access to
new services for safe and efficient
marine transportation including
new and more accurate forecasts
of coastal and ocean wave and sea
state, sea ice conditions, marine
weather, tides and electronic chart
displays of oceanographic and
meteorological hazards.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 8
03 BLUE ECONOMY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 . 3
IMPROVE RESILIENCE OF COASTAL
COMMUNITIES AND ECONOMIES
Coastal counties in the U.S. are home to 127 million people — or
about 40 percent of the population. If American coastal counties
were an individual country, they would rank third in the world
in GDP. To ensure responsible development and growth of the
coastal communities and economies, NOAA will connect tools for
resilience and climate science with coastal communities and will
engage in co-development of those tools to support planning and
management decision-making. NOAA will also expand its marine
debris removal and prevention efforts by advancing innovative
approaches in concert with a broadening network of partners
to increase impact. NOAA’s diverse coastal resilience programs
and missions produce vital science and provide decision support
services for planning, preparedness, response, recovery and
restoration to address diverse coastal issues across the U.S.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
A DVA N C E F O R E C A S T
EFFECTS OF SEA - LEVEL RISE
A N D C OA S TA L I N U N DAT I O N
R E D U C E R I S K F R O M C OA S TA L
A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L H A Z A R D S
SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE
C OA S TA L D E V E L O P M E N T
A N D M A N AG E M E N T
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 5 9
03 BLUE ECONOMY
3.3.1 ADVANCE FORECAST EFFECTS
OF SEA-LEVEL RISE AND COASTAL
INUNDATION
3.3.2 REDUCE RISK FROM COASTAL
AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Coastal communities face numerous threats
3.3.3 SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE
COASTAL DEVELOPMENT AND
MANAGEMENT
Sea-level rise will create a profound shift in
including extreme natural events such as
NOAA will engage and consult with partners at all
coastal flooding by causing tide and storm surge
hurricanes, coastal storms, tsunamis and
levels to ensure investments and development,
heights to increase and reach further inland. By
landslides as well as longer-term risks of
including substantial infrastructure investments
2050, moderate — typically damaging — flooding
coastal erosion, oil spills, marine debris, ocean
under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
is expected to occur more than 10 times as often
acidification, harmful algal blooms and hypoxia.
Act, are sustainable, environmentally responsible
as it does today. Through improved forecasts of
These hazards can endanger lives, contaminate
and climate ready. NOAA will consult with
hurricanes and coastal storms, NOAA will better
drinking water, reduce food security, damage
federal agencies to ensure the sustainability
inform emergency managers, coastal resource
coastal infrastructure, degrade coastal
and conservation of living marine resources and
managers, industry and the public to prepare
ecosystems and harm coastal economies. NOAA
provide grants, research and technical assistance
and adapt to more frequent coastal inundation.
will ensure that decision-makers and the public
to help communities increase carbon capture
NOAA will improve coastal mapping, increase
in coastal communities have access to innovative
and select natural and nature-based solutions to
observations and updates to digital elevation
products and services for effective preparation
protect life, property and health systems
models and improve and integrate modeling
and response to ocean-related threats to health
to contribute to better coastal inundation
and economies including innovative approaches
forecasts. NOAA will also maintain current impact
to marine debris prevention and removal.
information to forecast the effects of sea-level
rise and coastal inundation and work to develop
D I D YO U K N O W ?
forecasts for longer timescales, from subseasonal
to multi-annual, to better inform long-term
E V E RY S H I P M OV I N G I N A N D O U T O F U . S . P O R T S R E L I E S O N
planning for coastal communities.
N AV I G AT I O N C H A R T S A N D WAT E R L E V E L I N F O R M AT I O N T H AT
T H E N AT I O N A L O C E A N S E R V I C E A L O N E P R OV I D E S .
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 0
A whooping crane catches a
blue crab in the American southeast
“
The next decade is a critical time to address the climate
crisis. We have a small window to shift to a carbon neutral
economy and hold climate impacts in check.
DR . RICK SPINR AD
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 61
03 BLUE ECONOMY
OU TCO M E S
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 . 3
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Improve Resilience of Coastal
Communities and Economies objective will include:
■ Marine-dependent communities,
including underserved and
vulnerable communities in the Arctic,
tropical islands and other areas, have
new tools, information and training
to help them develop and implement
adaptation plans to manage risk from
changing oceans and other stressors.
■ Coastal counties are engaged with NOAA
to improve resilience and climate-smart
communities are identified and enabled
for resilience planning.
■ Decision-makers and the public have
access to the actionable information,
supported by social science, to optimally
manage, mitigate and build resilience to
inland and coastal flood threats.
■ NOAA programs ensure a
measurable impact in preventing
and removing marine debris in U.S.
coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ Through newly developed coastal
services, decision-makers have
access to new analysis, scenario
planning and other tools for
managing inundation and protecting
coastal infrastructure on 20-, 50- and
100-year time horizons.
■ NOAA is engaged to ensure new
coastal development projects
are sustainable, environmentally
responsible and climate-ready.
■ Decision-makers in coastal
communities have access to
new products and services for
effective preparation and response
to ocean-related threats to health,
including harmful coastal algal
blooms, shellfish poisoning, marine
pollution and oil spills.
■ Through a comprehensive,
operational near-shore coastal
forecast system, decision-makers
have access to new total water level
and inundation risk forecasts and
mapping that are tied to the built
environment and vital infrastructure
in all coastal communities.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 2
03 BLUE ECONOMY
S T R AT E G I E S I N C L U D E :
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 . 4
PROTECT AND RESTORE MARINE
LIFE AND OCEAN, COASTAL AND
GREAT LAKES ECOSYSTEMS
A healthy blue economy depends on responsible management
of our ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources. Through
stewardship, NOAA creates jobs and other opportunities for
sustainable economic growth and innovation. NOAA will
continue to manage more than 620,000 square miles of ocean
and Great Lakes waters as well as 430 domestic protected
marine species. More broadly, NOAA will provide science and
information to support conservation and stewardship of U.S.
coastal areas, the Exclusive Economic Zone and Extended
Continental Shelf.
R E C OV E R A N D C O N S E R V E
PROTECTED SPECIES
P R O T E C T, C O N S E R V E A N D R E S T O R E
C OA S TA L , O C E A N A N D G R E AT L A K E S L A N D S ,
WAT E R S A N D R E S O U R C E S
A DVA N C E S C I E N C E F O R S T E WA R D S H I P
A N D C O N S E R VAT I O N
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 3
03 BLUE ECONOMY
3.4.1 RECOVER AND CONSERVE
PROTECTED SPECIES
3.4.3 ADVANCE SCIENCE FOR
STEWARDSHIP AND CONSERVATION
to protect and recover endangered marine and
3.4.2 PROTECT, CONSERVE AND
RESTORE COASTAL, OCEAN AND
GREAT LAKES LANDS, WATERS AND
RESOURCES
migratory fish species and conserve and protect
NOAA will use its 50 years of area-based
improve its management into the future. Quality,
NOAA will implement conservation-based statutes
marine mammals through science-based
policy, management and stewardship. Many
of these species are key components of their
ecosystems and have particular social and
cultural importance. Specifically, NOAA will focus
on species recovery using its understanding
of environmental and anthropogenic threats.
NOAA will use a climate-informed approach
to implement actions to stabilize and recover
endangered and threatened species protected
by the Endangered Species Act, conserve marine
mammals, conduct emergency interventions
for protection or recovery of animals in poor
health and bring greater attention and marshal
resources towards saving the species at greatest
risk of extinction.
NOAA will increase its understanding of
stewardship and conservation resources to
observations and data are the foundations
conservation and restoration expertise to
for safe and efficient management of these
conserve and restore high-priority areas of
coastal habitat that provide major ecological
functions or are impacted from a variety of
resources and serve as the critical starting point
for predicting likely impacts of environmental and
anthropogenic drivers and management decisions
societal and environmental stressors. NOAA
on the future state of U.S. oceans, coasts and
will advance locally led conservation and
restoration efforts to address climate change, the
disappearance of nature and inequitable access
to the outdoors. NOAA will use a climate-informed
approach to restore access to spawning habitat
in streams, rivers and coastal habitats as well as
Great Lakes. NOAA will augment its current
efforts by incorporating citizen- and industrybased science and traditional knowledge to feed
the resulting information into the burgeoning New
Blue Economy enterprise.
conserve adjacent areas to improve resilience
in consideration of shifting coastlines from the
impact of sea-level rise and increasing coastal
storms.
D I D YO U K N O W ?
T H E R E A R E 4 0 0 0 A R G O B U OY S C U R R E N T LY
D E P L OY E D AC R O S S T H E W O R L D ’ S O C E A N S T O
M E A S U R E T E M P E R AT U R E A N D S A L I N I T Y.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 4
03 BLUE ECONOMY
OU TCO M E S
B LU E E CO N O M Y: S TR ATE G I C O B J E C TI V E 3 . 4
Through 2026, evidence of progress toward the Protect and Restore Marine Life
and Ocean, Coastal and Great Lakes Ecosystems objective will include:
■ By establishing new National
Estuarine Research Reserves and
National Marine Sanctuaries, leading
habitat restoration programs and
expanding access to Coastal Zone
Management Programs, NOAA
contributes to the national goal of
conserving at least 30 percent of U.S.
lands and waters by 2030.
■ Restoration results in ecological
change and community resilience
through habitat-based approaches to
rebuild productive and sustainable
fisheries, contribute to the recovery
and conservation of protected
resources and promote resilient
ecosystems and communities.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
■ Decision-makers supporting
endangered and threatened species
under the Endangered Species Act
have increased capacity to support
resilient, thriving marine and coastal
ecosystems, support responsible
recreation and tourism and educate
and inspire people around the world.
■ NOAA’s educational programs
for children and the public
increase environmental literacy
and encourage individual planet
stewardship actions.
■ Communities are engaged in
strengthening coastal resilience
and economic vitality through the
conservation and restoration of
coastal ecosystems by pursuing
locally-led and collaborative
stewardship efforts.
■ NOAA focuses science, recovery
actions and partnerships to stabilize
the highest priority protected
species and protect and restore
critical habitat where it limits species
recovery.
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 5
NOAA’S OPERATIONAL
EXCELLENCE AND
MISSION SUCCESS
To excel at achieving NOAA’s goals, objectives and strategies,
NOAA will develop and successfully implement robust
strategic plans and frameworks for its facilities, information
resources management and service delivery — to
advance key operational priorities and to reduce risks to
mission success. To achieve excellence, the operational
priorities described below include people, process
and technology-related functions — the essential
human, physical and virtual infrastructure — as well
as business process improvements that are crucial
to building a Climate Ready Nation and growing
the New Blue Economy. NOAA’s value chain is
supported and sustained by the agency’s pursuit of
becoming a model workplace, providing modern
and sustainable facilities and investing in IT
and next-generation observing infrastructure.
Each of these elements are critical to address
current gaps and keep pace with a rapidly
changing environment. Outlined below is a
snapshot of NOAA’s human, physical and
virtual infrastructure investments, as well as
customer-focused data and service delivery
frameworks, needed to deliver on this plan.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
NOAA ship Fairweather among the
majestic peaks of Chatham Strait, Alaska
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 6
WORLD CLASS WORKFORCE
NOAA will hire, develop and retain a diverse, world-class workforce that is committed to
using the best science, engineering and technology to ensure mission delivery. The agency’s
workforce requires advanced skills in scientific and engineering disciplines as well as the
best skills in project and organizational management, social science and interdisciplinary
work. NOAA will also take measurable steps to enhance the NOAA employee experience
by creating a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity. With a substantial percentage of
the workforce approaching retirement eligibility, NOAA will bolster efforts to attract, hire
and develop a new generation of diverse professionals to accomplish its mission. Over the
coming years the agency will implement comprehensive workforce training and professional
development, enable leaders to manage and lead in a flexible work environment and
support strong labor-management relations.
SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES
The 2030 NOAA Facilities Strategic Plan envisions an efficient facilities footprint equipped
with the highest caliber scientific capabilities in the world. This will enhance the quality and
prestige of NOAA products, services and information while providing safe and climateresilient environments to enable the NOAA mission, attract and retain a world-class
workforce and support a flexible workplace. To address significant facilities challenges,
including an aging and disjointed footprint that has a large maintenance and repair backlog,
NOAA will reduce its facilities deferred maintenance through repair, recapitalization, leasing
or disposal of its real property.
D I D YO U K N O W ?
N OA A WA S
FOUNDED IN 1970.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 7
HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING
NOAA will continue to make critical investments in high performance computing and associated
research, operations and maintenance programs. These include significant investments in the
Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System by transitioning to WCOSS-2 and
investing in the high performance computing systems supporting NOAA’s research activities and
laboratories. The NOAA High Performance Computing Board will provide holistic management
promoting balance and efficiency between the powerful computing needed to develop the next
generation of numerical prediction systems and the agency’s imperative to deliver numerical
guidance operationally.
CLOUD COMPUTING
NOAA has and will continue to use the Cloud Smart approach to harness the capabilities of
the commercial cloud and internal cloud systems. The agency collects, integrates and uses
a formidable amount of data daily to monitor and model complex Earth systems. Increased
cloud use will provide reliable, resilient and scalable infrastructure and computing resources for
developing efficient solutions to enhance NOAA’s capabilities and performance. New investments
in cloud computing will also support improvements in satellite data products and services,
numerical weather, water, and climate prediction, coastal and ocean models, big data analysis,
storage and dissemination.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 8
OPEN DATA DISSEMINATION/OPEN SCIENCE
NOAA will ensure the agency’s data and information are broadly available on a free and
open basis and easy to use across economic sectors, geography and socioeconomic
context to realize the full value of NOAA’s data. NOAA will continue to share its knowledge
by keeping open its data, codes, algorithms, models and research outputs, including
manuscripts, publications, processes and methods. NOAA will invest across the organization
in infrastructure and the data workforce needed to provide appropriate data management
throughout the entire data lifecycle from collection to broad data access and associated
information services. Leveraging commercial partnerships, cloud, artificial intelligence
and machine learning technologies and collaborating across NOAA to preserve, curate,
document and disseminate data will be paramount. NOAA will further leverage commercial
partnerships, big data projects and contractual arrangements with commercial cloud
providers to make more of its data publicly accessible. Innovative partnerships with cloud
service providers are well-suited to provide free public access to NOAA’s rapidly increasing
data, including climate and Earth system dynamics. NOAA also hosts several openly
accessible global databases, such as the World Ocean Database. Advocating more forcefully
for open data sharing within the international community will facilitate NOAA’s access to
more data. This also incorporates supporting information services to improve data literacy,
equitable access and the value of NOAA data in the public and private sectors.
CYBERSECURITY
NOAA will invest in IT innovation to accelerate modernization of its legacy infrastructure,
deliver cost-effective solutions to employees and enable mission success. NOAA will
continue to move from a compliance-based to a risk-based approach to defend its
D I D YO U K N O W ?
information, data, networks, equipment, intellectual property and personnel against
a wide variety of adversaries ranging from nation states to lone-wolf attacks to insider
N OA A I N C L U D E S T H E
OLDEST CIVILIAN SCIENCE
threats. NOAA will advance critical cybersecurity activities to address vulnerabilities of
O R G A N I Z AT I O N — E S TA B L I S H E D
specific Federal Information Security Management Act systems as well as strengthening
IN 1807 BY THOMA S JEFFER SON.
the agency’s overall cyber posture and ability to handle evolving threats.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 6 9
OBSERVING SYSTEMS PORTFOLIO
NOAA’s vision is to achieve and sustain an observing system portfolio that is mission effective,
integrated, adaptable and affordable. NOAA will continue to use its sophisticated portfolio
analysis databases and tools to ensure its extensive observing system portfolio will meet or
exceed current and future mission requirements in a balanced, cost-effective manner. NOAA
will leverage partnerships to continually examine, coordinate and improve its diverse array of
observing systems within and across domains including space, atmosphere, land, ocean and
cryosphere. NOAA has carefully and strategically developed fleet and aircraft plans to support
their recapitalization and maintenance and is expanding the strategic use of uncrewed systems
across the agency.
NOAA will continue to develop plans for the next-generation satellite architecture to meet
NOAA’s Earth observing system requirements. NOAA will undertake formulation studies with
industry for all satellite systems to ensure an efficient, effective and cohesive space architecture
that meets NOAA’s mission and can adapt to future needs. NOAA will advance critical research
on weather radar technologies and operations to meet the unprecedented challenges of
weather observing and forecasting in the coming decades. Additionally, next-generation ocean
observation architecture will be strengthened in-situ and real-time ocean observations. The use
of foundational platforms will provide crucial data to inform the Earth system dynamics critical to
improving climate modeling and forecasting.
SERVICE DELIVERY
Users look to NOAA for a range of data, information, tools and services, but sometimes find
them difficult to efficiently and effectively access and understand. The nation benefits from
enhanced service delivery and a better customer experience through improved decision making,
reduced risk to lives, property and the economy as well as increased resilience to weather and
climate hazards. NOAA’s commitment is to mature the service delivery, user engagement and
customer experience enterprise functions and move toward being a government leader in
equitable service delivery. NOAA will center equitable service delivery as a core element of its
value chain, actively promote the incorporation of the Service Delivery Framework and customer
experience tools across its services and strengthen and broaden support for its customer-facing
D I D YO U K N O W ?
N OA A E M P L OY S 12 , 0 0 0
P E R S O N S W O R L DW I D E ,
I N C L U D I N G OV E R 6 , 0 0 0
SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS.
communities of practice.
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 7 0
“
NOAA is in every community in the U.S. working hand-in-hand with partners
locally and sharing best practices globally. No matter the need, people know
they can turn to us for reliable, easy-to-use climate and extreme weather
information to help make informed decisions that help save lives and livelihoods.
DR . RICK SPINR AD
Atmospheric optical phenomena called sun dogs
and light pillars are created by the refraction of
sunlight through ice crystals in the Arctic Ocean
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 7 1
REFERENCES
BEA (2022) Marine Economy Satellite Account, 2014-2020 News Release https://
www.bea.gov/news/2022/marine-economy-satellite-account-2014-2020
US (2021) PUBLIC LAW 117–58 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act https://www.
congress.gov/117/plaws/publ58/PLAW-117publ58.pdf
DOC (2022) U.S. Department of Commerce Strategic Plan 2022–2026 Innovation,
Equity, and Resilience - Strengthening American Competitiveness in the 21st
Century https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/DOC-StrategicPlan-2022%E2%80%932026.pdf
US (2006) PUBLIC LAW 109–430 National Integrated Drought Information System
Act of 2006 https://www.congress.gov/109/plaws/publ430/PLAW-109publ430.pdf
DOC (2022) U.S Department of Commerce FY 2023 Annual Performance Plan and
FY 2021 Annual Performance Report https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/
files/2022-03/DOC-FY21-23-APPR-Final.pdf
DOC (2021) Department of Commerce 2021 Climate Action Plan for Adaptation and
Resilience https://www.sustainability.gov/pdfs/doc-2021-cap.pdf
DOC (2022) U.S. Department of Commerce Budget and Performance
webpage https://www.commerce.gov/about/budget-and-performance
NOAA (2022) Service Delivery Framework https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/
files/2022-02/A-Model-of-Service-Delivery-for-the-NOAA-Water-Initiative_FINAL.pdf
NOAA (2021) NOAA Blue Economy Strategic Plan 2021–2025 https://
aambpublicoceanservice.blob.core.windows.net/oceanserviceprod/economy/BlueEconomy%20Strategic-Plan.pdf
NOAA (2021) NOAA Diversity and Inclussion Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2020–2024
https://eeo.oar.noaa.gov/Policy/NOAA%20Diversity%20and%20Inclusion%20
Plan%20(FY2020-2024)_e-signed_8-28-20%20(1).pdf
NOAA (2021) NOAA Information Resources Management Strategic Plan 2021–2025
https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/document/2021/Mar/NOAA-IRMStrategic-Plan_2021-25_FINAL.pdf
NOAA (2020) NOAA Research and Development Vision Areas: 2020–2026 https://
repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/24933
NOAA (2021) NOAA Science Report https://sciencecouncil.noaa.gov/Portals/0/
Science%20Report/The%20FINAL%202021%20NOAA%20Science%20Report%20_
MW_3-21.pdf?ver=2022-03-22-081921-153
NOAA (2021) NOAA Science & Technology Focus Areas Plans 2021–2025 https://
sciencecouncil.noaa.gov/NOAA-Science-Technology-Focus-Areas
The Ocean Enterprise Study 2015–2020 A study of U.S. New Blue Economy
business activity https://cdn.ioos.noaa.gov/media/2021/12/OE-REPORT-2015_2020FINAL_120721_web.pdf
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
US (2019) PUBLIC LAW 115–423 National Integrated Drought Information System
Reauthorization Act of 2018 https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ423/PLAW115publ423.pdf
US (2017) PUBLIC LAW 115–25 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of
2017 https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ25/PLAW-115publ25.pdf
US (2021) Executive Order 14008 211-d Report Opportunities for Expanding and
Improving Climate Information and Services for the Public https://toolkit.climate.
gov/sites/default/files/eo-14008-211-d-report.pdf
US (2021) Executive Order 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government https://www.
federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equityand-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government
US (2021) Executive Order 13990 Protecting Public Health and the Environment
and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2021/01/25/2021-01765/protecting-public-health-and-the-environmentand-restoring-science-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis
US (2021) Executive Order 14008 Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/
tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad
US (2021) Offshore Wind Market Report: 2021 Edition Released https://www.
energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/offshore-wind-market-report-2021-edition-released
US (2019) PUBLIC LAW 115–435 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act
of 2018 https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ435/PLAW-115publ435.pdf
WH (2021) Biden Administration Jumpstarts Offshore Wind Energy Projects to
Create Jobs Fact Sheet https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statementsreleases/2021/03/29/fact-sheet-biden-administration-jumpstarts-offshore-windenergy-projects-to-create-jobs/#:~:text=The%20Departments%20of%20Interior%20
%28DOI,and%20promoting%20ocean%20co%2Duse
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 7 2
REFERENCES
NOAA AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FY22-26 STRATEGIC PLAN CROSSWALK
NOAA STRATEGIC GOALS
DOC STRATEGIC GOALS
Goal 1 - Build a Climate Ready
Nation
Goal 3 - Address the Climate
Crisis through Mitigation,
Adaptation and Resilience
Efforts
DOC STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVES
(Commerce lead bureau is in parentheses)
3.1 – (NOAA) Increase the impact of climate data and services for decision
makers through enhanced service delivery and improved weather, water
and climate forecasts
3.2 – (NOAA) Strengthen coastal resilience and restoration of lands and waters
for current and future generations
3.3 – (ITA) Accelerate development and deployment of clean technologies
3.4 – (All bureaus) Embed climate considerations across Department programs
Goal 2 - Make Equity Central
to NOAA’s Mission
Operational Excellence
Goal 5 - Provide 21st Century
Service with 21st Century
Capabilities
5.1 – (All bureaus) Effectively implement new Department of Commerce authorities
and investments
5.2 – (All bureaus) Optimize workforce and diversity, equity and inclusion practices
5.3 – (All bureaus) Equitably deliver exceptional customer experience
5.5 – (All bureaus) Modernize mission support processes and infrastructure
Goal 3 - Foster an Information
Based Blue Economy
Operational Excellence
All
All
Goal 2 - Foster Inclusive
Capitalism and Equitable
Economic Growth
2.1 – (EDA) Drive equitable, resilient, place-based economic development
and job growth
Goal 1 - Drive U.S. Innovation
and Global Competitiveness
1.7 – (NOAA) Advance U.S. leadership in the global commercial space industry
Goal 4 - Expand Opportunity
and Discovery through Data
4.1 – (OUSEA, All bureaus) Implement evidence-based decision making within the
Department of Commerce to increase program and policy impact
2.2 – (EDA, All bureaus) Build sustainable, employer-driven career pathways to meet
employer’s need for talent and to connect Americans to quality jobs
1.2 – (NIST) Accelerate the development, commercialization and deployment of
critical and emerging technologies
4.3 – (OUSEA, All bureaus) Improve Commerce data usability and advance ethical,
responsible and equitable data practices
INTRO
G OA L S S U M M A RY
C L I M AT E
EQUIT Y
BLUE ECONOMY
O P E R AT I O N S
N OA A F Y 2 2-26 S T R AT E G I C P L A N 7 3
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Modified | 2022-07-08 |
| File Created | 2022-07-08 |