Department of Energy Announces $15.3 Million for Atmospheric System Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $15.3 million in funding for 24 new projects in atmospheric sciences aimed at improving the power of Earth system models to predict weather and climate. Awards focus on studies of cloud, aerosol, and precipitation processes and their interactions.

Selected projects cover a range of atmospheric science topics, including process-level scientific understanding of how atmospheric particles invigorate storms; processes that govern rain, snow, and snowpack in the Rocky Mountains; processes affecting low level clouds; and impacts of atmospheric particles, heat, and moisture on clouds in the Southeast.

“America’s leadership in the climate sciences dates back to the earliest general circulation models of the 1950s. DOE investments in the atmospheric sciences have been critical to our nation’s overall leadership in making accurate projections of climate change and impacts on society,” said Todd Anderson, DOE Acting Associate Director for Biological and Environmental Research. “These grants will ensure a strong atmospheric sciences research program and expand the robust scientific workforce of our country, which will lead to important new insights into the nature of Earth system variability and change in support of the DOE mission.”

Funding totals $15.3 million in Fiscal Year 2023 for projects lasting up to three years. The list of projects and more information can be found here.

Projects were chosen by competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement, under the Atmospheric System Research Program, sponsored by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), within the Department’s Office of Science.