Linking NASA Models and Missions to Global Change

Lead PI: Jonathan Winter

Unit Affiliation: Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR)

September 2013 - April 2016
Inactive
Global ; New York
Project Type: Research

DESCRIPTION: The Climate Impacts Team at Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) will conduct research that explores the effects of climate trends, variability, and extremes on agriculture, water resources, coastal zones, and urban areas. With a core group of scientists based at NASA GISS, the Climate Impacts Team will engage researchers from across the Directorate and beyond, including active participation from university partners. NASA has already developed relevant data and models at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory, Climate and Radiation Laboratory, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Global Change Data Center, and High-Performance Computing Group. The Team will also entrain researchers from universities and organizations throughout the United States, including the Earth Institute at Columbia University, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, University of Florida, and City College of New York. The Team will include stakeholder partners at all levels of the research process, and facilitate cooperation across divisions, disciplines, and sectors.

OUTCOMES: Research by the Climate Impacts Team, utilizing satellite-based data and climate modeling tools developed in-house and by the Directorate, will help reduce near and long-term damages to farmers from droughts, floods, and heat waves; ensure water supplies; alleviate human suffering from summer heat waves; and protect against coastal damage from storm surges. Especially crucial is the use of these tools in urban centers, where concentrated communities are dependent on infrastructure and services designed for past climate conditions, and are therefore vulnerable to disruptive changes.